Wandering Home
by Unexpainable Awesomeness
Summary: Au. Wanderer Daniels is 6 years old when she moves to the little town of Crater, Tennessee. Being raised by only her mother is difficult in its own. But now, she's moved to a new state to a new house and is nicknamed Wanda by her new neighbor, Ian. Life can't be too bad, right? This story will go up until they graduate from high school and Rated T for language and later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! So, this is my third story I've posted on , also an AU story like "Sweet Hearts", except it starts when the characters are much younger. I hope you like it! I got the idea from my cousin, so I want to thank her for the inspiration. Tell me what you think about it! I really do want to know! So, here you go people!**

**Ian POV**

I run towards the soccer ball, but, again, Kyle beats me to it, kicking it in the goal again. I sigh and kick the dirt, listening to him tell me how terrible I am at another sport. I turn and start walking beside him towards the house. It's really not fair. He's older and bigger and faster than me. I AM only 6. I see a silver car pull into the house across the street. A little girl with these long blonde curls gets out of the car holding this little bag. I whistle like my dad taught me how to, jaw clenched and suck in air, and she looks up at me.

I wave my hands over my head, making her smile a little. I start running over there, punching Kyle in the arm as I go. He shouts at me, but then I hear the front door close. I smile as I get over to her. I'm out of breath, but I want to seem like a good runner and like that was nothing. She hides a little behind her hair as I come over to her. I stick my hand out to her.

"I'm Ian. I guess you're the new neighbor," She looks up and I'm immediately caught off guard at the strange silver- blue eyes that are wide with shock. After a few minutes, she takes my hand and we shake. She's very small, like a doll. I mean, she's taller than one, but she looks like one. She looks like a scared kitten.

"I'm Wanderer," She turns her head to the side, a small and very faint smile on her face, which is very pretty. She has this pink, frilly, lacey dress on and a pink bow in her hair, which is also very pretty. It's very girly, but it fits her.

"That's a mouth full, don't ya think?" She scrunches her eyebrows together a little bit. "Mind if I call you something else? How about…how about Wanda," She stares at me for a few minutes, but then she unscrunches her eyebrows and smiles again, nodding her head.

"I…I like that," I smile with her and then I hear a door open.

"IAN! MOM WANTS YOU TO COME INSIDE!" I hear Kyle scream. I swat my hand at him and Wanda giggles. I feel my face light up.

"You're funny," She says. She pats my arm and walks towards her front door, waving at me from her porch before walking inside. I start walking back home when I hear her scream from her window at me.

"BYE, IAN!" I smile as I wave at her from my porch.

**Wanda POV**

I duck my head back into the house and close the window. I turn around and pick up my little suitcase with my dolls and space books in it. I walk into the kitchen and see my mom walking back and forth from the island to the cabinets, putting away plates and stuff. She turns around and smiles at me.

"Wanderer, dear, have you picked out your room yet?" I shake my head.

"No, but I met a neighbor. His name is Ian. And he gave me a nickname, too," She smiles bigger and walks over to me.

"What is it?" She asks as she hugs me.

"He called me Wanda. And I like it. It's easier to say," She squeezes me.

"Ok, then. _Wanda,_ you better pick which room you want so we can fix it up for you," I smile and run upstairs. I walk down the hall, opening every door and peeking in each room. I pick the one at the end of the hall. It has a big closet like the one across from it, but it has a huge window that shows Ian's house. Mom comes in a few minutes later as I twirl around the room. She smiles at me and leans against the door frame.

"I like this window," She smiles bigger and laughs a little.

"It's called a bay window. You can put stuff in the seat because it's like a chest. You can also sit on top of it, like a bench," She walks over to me and opens up the seat. I gasp. It has a few little cubbies inside it. I climb in it and pull the bench closed. I hear my mom laugh and I decide to play a game. I knock on the top of the bench- thing.

"Hey, mom? It's dark in here. Can you open this?" She laughs again and then the top opens and light fills the space. I smile up at her and she picks me up, spinning me in the air as I giggle like crazy. She sits me down as there's a knock on the door. I run downstairs with her and open the door, her hand on my shoulder. There's a very tall man standing in the doorway, a clipboard in his huge hands. He sticks one out to my mom.

"Hello. Are you Elisha Daniels?" My mom nods her head, shaking the man's head. He waves at some people that I can't see and people start coming in. My mom pulls me back away from the door as men come in carrying a couch, some chairs, and other furniture into the house. They take two beds upstairs, one for my room and one for my mom's room.

I don't know how long they were here, but eventually, they left. My mom even gave one her phone number. (It was the one who was at the door first.)

I was tired from coming all the way here from South Carolina, so I kissed my mom on the cheek and went to my room. When I opened the door, my bed was put together and my mom had put my covers on it. I smiled, happy to see they were covered in the stars and planets. She had my posters in a corner by the door, but I just crawled into bed and fell asleep seconds later.

**The Next Morning**

I wake up to my mom shaking me awake. I blink a few times and start to sit up. She stands back and smiles at me.

"Good morning, _Wanda_," I smile with her, still squinting in the light.

"Good morning. What time is it?" She smiles a little sadder.

"5:34," My eyes widen with surprise and she ducks her head a little, blushing a lot.

"Why'd you wake me up so early? I don't start school until tomorrow,"

"Well, I thought that you would like to get some new clothes. We DID move to a different state and I wanted to let you get some new things to make you feel more at home here," I smile at her. I have always thought she was a great mom.

"Sure! But we don't have to, mom. I've got clothes and you already bought this house, which I assume cost a LOT of money, and we should really use the money for food and other necessities," My mom pats my cheek and I swallow my rant.

"Honey, I know what it's like to move somewhere new. It's hard, and I want it to be as easy as possible for you. Which is why we're going shopping," She walks to my clothes suitcase and pulls out jeans and a t-shirt with stars all over it. I smile and she kisses my forehead. Before she walks out of the room, she looks back at me.

"I'll make you some pancakes," I clap my hands together and run over to my clothes. I hear her laugh echo down the hall.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow! 22 people have read this! Thank you for that. Rubikmaster, thank you for the review! Here's the next chapter!**

**Ian POV**

I woke up with a groan as I opened my eyes to a bright light in my room. I look over and it's just the sun coming through my window. I jump out of bed and run to it, making a shade over my eyes with my hands to keep me from going blind. I look at Wanda's house and I get excited. I'm going to talk to her again today, I will!

I look at her driveway and the car's gone. My excitement deflates. She's not home. I immediately get grumpy and stomp downstairs and into our kitchen. Kyle's sitting at the counter eating cereal and my dad's sitting at the table reading the newspaper. My mom's not in here so she must have left for work already. I open a cabinet up and stand on my tiptoes, trying to get out a bowl. Kyle reaches over me and gives it to me. I nod and stomp over to the cereal cabinet and pull out some Coco Puffs. I smash them on the island and plop onto a stool, pouring my cereal in the bowl. I reach for the milk and realize that I forgot it. I huff in aggravation and stomp over to the fridge, slamming the door shut after I get the milk. I start to drown my cereal and watch as the milk turns brown like chocolate milk. I hear my dad sigh and sit down his newspaper.

"Ian, what's wrong?" I can tell he just wants an easy day, and it will be, but it will be boring without Wanda here.

"Wanda's not home," I can see Kyle smirking out of the corner of my eye, but choose to ignore it, like my dad's raised eyebrows.

"Wanda?" My dad asks. I sigh from irritation.

"She's the new neighbor and I talked to her yesterday. She was very sweet, but she's not home today," Kyle snorts and I glare at him. I pick up my cereal and stomp into the living room, turning on SpongeBob Squarepants. I stare blankly as I mechanically eat my food. That's when I hear a car pull up and I look out the window to see Wanda's car going into her driveway. I run to my room to get clothes on, my happiness and excitement back.

**Wanda POV**

I fix my hair to be in a side ponytail on the bottom right side of my head and flow onto my arm. I smile in the mini mirror my mom just bought me to keep with me at school. I look up at her and she's smiling as we pull into our driveway. She hands me the keys, pointing to the house key, and I run to open the door.

After a few tries, I get it open and throw the keys on the island in the kitchen and run back to the car to get my new clothes out. I pick up a bag that my mom said was light, but I thought it was very heavy. I struggled, but didn't say anything about it. I heard someone shout and looked to see Ian running towards me, his arms flailing around him. I smile and stop walking to wait for him. He takes the bag from me and I cross my arms across my chest.

"Hey! I was carrying that!" He laughs a little, but I can see he's struggling a little, too.

"You're not very strong, Wanda. You would have hurt yourself," I let my arms fall to my sides.

"Can we carry it together?" His face brightens a little.

"Ok, sure," I smile and grab one side as he takes the other. It was still heavy, but easier to carry with Ian's help. We walk up the porch steps and get it just inside the door. My mom walks over to us from the kitchen and smiles.

"Teamwork makes a big difference, doesn't it?" She smiles at us and we nod. I then poke Ian's arm.

"Race ya to the car!" I say and start running, him chasing after me. I smack the car with my hand and start to laugh. I turn around to see Ian smack the car, too. I pick up two shoe boxes, but I about drop them. He takes the one on top from me and we walk back to the house together.

"You're sort of fast, Wanda," I giggle a little.

"My mom liked to run, and she was fast, too, but then she had me so she stopped running. Sometimes, she would run around our yard back in South Carolina. I would watch her because I wasn't as fast as her and couldn't keep up,"

"Well, I think you're pretty fast. Kyle's fast, too, but he plays sports,"

"Do you play sports?" He nods his head.

"Well, I play in the yard with Kyle, but he says I'm not good," He shrugs. "I'll get better, though. I'll even beat him when I'm bigger and actually understand the game," I giggle again and his face brightens up. We get back in the house, and start towards the car again, but my mom stops us.

"I got the other stuff. Are you kids hungry?" We nod and she smiles, walking to the kitchen. We follow her and I start digging through the cabinets, Ian beside me. She clears her throat and we turn around to look at her. She's holding a box of Shamu's in her hand and I grab at them.

"Pretty, pretty, pretty, PRETTY PLEASE?!" I beg, still jumping for them. She laughs and hands them to me.

"Now don't eat them all! Let Ian have some!" I nod and take off to the living room. Ian sits down on the couch beside me and I hand him the box.

"Have you ever had these before?" He shakes his head. My eyes widen. "Then you DEFINITELY need to eat some!" He shrugs and takes a handful and tossing them all in his mouth. He digs in again and I giggle.

"These are so GOOD!" He says, making me giggle harder. I can hear my mom laughing, too.

**About 15 Minutes Later**

"I'm bored, Ian," I say and we sit there, staring at the wall trying to think of something. His face brightens with an idea and he looks at me.

"Well, we could go to my house and play with my Xbox,"

"What games do you have for it?"

"Well, I have racing games and my dad has hunting games. Kyle has some games, but we can't play them," I scrunch up my nose.

"Those don't sound fun. Except maybe the hunting ones, but not really. I would start to get sad," A look of pure confusion crosses his face.

"Why would those make you sad?" I roll my eyes.

"Because you're killing animals! And that's sad!"

"Oh," I can tell he still doesn't understand, but he's willing to pretend he does to make me happy. Is this what a friend does? I should be a friend to him and do something he wants to do.

"We can play one of those if you want to, though. I don't know what else we could do so that's fine," He shakes his head.

"No, if you wouldn't have fun, we shouldn't play on my Xbox. The one you would probably like better, though, would be a racing game. I'm not very good so it would be pretty fair," I nod my head, smiling. And walk into the kitchen where my mom is standing beside the doorway!

"What are you doing?" She blushes, but pretends that she isn't.

"I was just about to walk by!" I know that she wasn't, but I let it go for now.

"Well, we're going to Ian's house to play on his Xbox. I'll be home later," She smiles and the blush on her cheeks starts to fade a little.

"Ok, that's fine. You kids have fun!" She calls as we run out the door. We run halfway across the street but start to walk because my side starts to hurt. Ian opens his door and he yells that he's home. He shows me around the first floor of the house and then we walk upstairs and walk into this room that has a huge TV hanging on the wall.

"Wow, that's an awesome TV, Ian," He smiles and walks over to it, sitting on the ground. I walk over to him and sit beside him. He's digging through a box filled with different games. He pulls out about 5 games and shows them to me.

"This one is the easiest one out of all the racing games. I think you would like this one, though, because you make a person and it can look like you," I point to that one.

"Let's play that one," He smiles and I think he turns on the Xbox. The TV lights up and he starts showing me the controls and how to play the game. We played for a while and I actually won TWICE! After our fourth race, we decided we were hungry so we walked into his kitchen.

A lady a little taller than my mom was standing in front of the fridge and looks up when we walk in. Her hair is jet black like Ian's and she also has his sapphire blue eyes. She smiles at us when we walk in.

"This is my mom," I wave a little and blush. She smiles more.

"Are you Wanda?" She asks, making me blush deeper. I nod and she turns to Ian. "You should have told me you had a friend over, Ian! I would have made you guys some snacks," He groans and walks over to a cabinet.

"No, I'll let you see her before I tell you she's here," I stifle a giggle and walk over to him.

"Do you guys want some lunch? It's almost 1:30," We nod and she smiles again. "Wanda, what do you like?" I blush again.

"Well, about anything. Except stuff with shrimp in it because I'm allergic," She smiles and bends down to my height, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"How about I take you guys out somewhere," Ian jumps up and I nod, giggling at Ian.

"YES! And somewhere good, Mom," She laughs and stands up.

"I'll let you choose, ok?"

"Ok," He says. He takes my hand and pulls me into the living room. We sit across from each other and start throwing out ideas.

"MDonald's," Ian says.

"Burger King,"

"Pal's,"

"The Hotdog Hut,"

"That sounds good. MOM! WE DECIDED!"

"OK! HOLD ON! LET ME FIND MY KEYS!" Ian rolls his eyes. About that time, his mom comes into the room, keys and purse in hand. We stand up and go to the car. I gasp and Ian just looks at me.

"What is it?" He asks.

"My mom. I should tell her," Ian shakes his head.

"We won't be gone long at all. Just a few minutes," I nod.

"Ok, then,"

We get in the car and go to eat.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3, yay! So sorry that I didn't update sooner, but my internet was being stupid. I'm so sorry, people! Ok, here you go! PS: Shamu's are basically whale shaped Goldfish crackers, but better. They are very delicious and you can get them about anywhere if you want to try them, which I totally suggest you do.**

**Elisha POV (Wanda's mom)**

I looked out the window and Wanda was standing in the driveway with Ian and most likely his mom. I wonder what they're doing. Then, they get in the car and his mom drives down the street. I start to worry immediately. Why didn't Wanda tell me she was going somewhere with them? I pace back and forth across the room, worrying like crazy over my baby. My phone rings. An unknown number comes up on it, but I answer anyway.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mom. Ian's mom is taking us to the Hotdog Hut. We'll be back later," I smile. My baby called me to tell me where she was going. I was afraid that she wouldn't tell me.

"Ok. Can I talk to Ian's mom?"

"Ok," There's some movement and then a different voice comes through the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, I'm Wanda's mom, Elisha Daniels. I just wanted to know if it would be alright if I saved your number to my phone?"

"Of course it is! My name's Rebecca O'Shea,"

"Ok, thank you, Rebecca,"

"Any time, Elisha,"

"Ok, bye, then,"

"Bye," I hang up and look around the room and realize that I somehow made it all the way upstairs into Wanda's room. I walk out and do what I know I'll have to stop doing soon.

I worry.

**Ian POV**

We pull back into my driveway a little under an hour later. Wanda had been worried her mom would be mad at her for not telling her where we were going in person so I went with her to her house.

"I'm home!" Wanda yelled as we walked in. Her mom basically ran down the stairs to us.

"Hey, guys. Did you have fun?"

"Yeah! Ian's very funny," I put my hands up.

"Guilty," Wanda giggles and her mom smiles. I hug Wanda and run back to my house. When I get on my porch, Wanda is waving from hers.

So I wave back.

**2 Days Later**

**Wanda POV**

"Can I wear this today?" I spin around in my denim dress. I also have my grey ankle boots on with my black vest. My mom looks up and smiles, nodding.

"I like that. Of course you can wear it," I smile really big and go back to my room. I start to go through my mental check list.

_Pencils? _Check.

_Erasers?_ Check.

_Paper?_ Check.

I smile, making sure that I have everything in my bag before running downstairs again. My mom laughs at me as I bounce around the living room.

"I think you're excited, aren't you, Wanda," I nod excitedly. Did she really have to ask me? She laughs and I hear a knock at the door. I run to it and see Ian standing there, grinning with me.

"Hey, Wanda! I was wondering if you were going to ride the bus," I nod.

"Yeah, I'm riding the bus," He smiles bigger.

"I ride it, too. Kyle's friend takes him to school so we don't have to be near him. I'll let you meet all my friends and you can be their friends, too!" I giggle at how excited he's making me. My mom puts her hand on my shoulder and kissed my head, patting me out the door.

"You guys better go stand at the bus stop. Have a good day!" I barely heard her because we were running to the bus stop, not looking back at her. I smiled as we stopped, holding my side. My smile started to fade as the bus came up the street. I had butterflies in my stomach. Ian squeezed my hand and I smiled at him a little. He helped me onto the bus and we walked to a middle seat. I scooted in beside the window and he kept telling me I'd be fine, but I was still pretty nervous. We stopped again a few minutes later and a girl came on with this little boy, who was just a little shorter than me.

The girl had brown hair to her shoulders braided down and behind her shoulders. She had on some jeans covered in holes and dirt stains and a grey t-shirt that said _Music Is My Life_ in huge bright pink letters. I looked down at my dress and boots and wondered if I dressed normal. The girl came over to us and smiled at Ian. Ian said something to her and she looked at me, smiling and sticking out her hand like Ian did a few days ago. I look at it for a second and shake it lightly.

"I'm Melanie," I smile a little bit at her.

"Wanda," She smiles and Ian lets her in the middle of the seat. I felt a little squished, but couldn't really think about it because Melanie kept asking me questions the whole way to school. When we got there, Ian held my hand through the crowd so I didn't get lost or anything. We actually have the same teacher as Melanie so we all walked together to class. I started to get butterflies again as we walked into the classroom.

The room was very colorful and bright. There were posters on the walls that had cute little animals on them. There was a little tank near the back of the room with something in it, but I couldn't tell what it was. The room had windows as the other wall across from us. To the right was a closet that other kids were going in and putting their bags in. Melanie took my hand this time and took me to the teacher's desk, which was right beside the door. I had a feeling Ian was following behind me.

I saw other kids, all dressed similar to Melanie and Ian. I felt very out of place here. Melanie basically dragged me through my nerves towards the teacher's desk and I started to shake before we even got there. Ian took my other hand and squeezed, making me smile a little and start to relax a bit.

The teacher was talking to another kid when we got there. He was about Ian's height, but Ian might have been just a little taller. He had blonde hair that looked like he lived in the sun. He's skin seemed to glow from how tan he was.

He smiled at me and I blushed. I looked up at Ian when he squeezed my hand a little harder. He looked angry, and something else, but I couldn't tell what it was. The teacher saw us and shooed the other boy away. He looked back at us and Ian gave him a look. He just shrugged, grinning at Ian, and kept walking. I looked back at the teacher and she smiled.

"Hi. I'm Mrs. Handle, the teacher. You must be Wanderer," I blush. I was starting to get used to _Wanda_ and it was strange to hear my real name again.

"I go by Wanda," Ian's whole face light up like the lights on a Christmas tree. Mrs. Handle smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Wanda. Now Melanie, Ian, I expect you to help her get used to everything here," They nod and show me around the room. The little closet was where people put everything that they didn't need. Mrs. Handle gave me a hook and I put my bag on it. I also have a desk between Ian and Melanie (she moved the other kids around so I was beside them both) in the front row. I met some new people. The blonde haired boy from earlier is Jared. There's a girl named Paige who's best friends with Lily and Heidi. Wes is also Lily's other best friend. Andy, Brandt, and Aaron are on a football team for the rec. league with Jared.

I know them all. We got to go outside at recess and I met this girl named Opal, who was very nice. She told me she'd be my friend so I decided to have her come over with Melanie and Ian after school. I think out of everyone I've met so far, Ian is my best friend. He stuck with me ALL day. Melanie did, too, but she left me out at times, which made me sad because I don't really know anyone but her, Ian, and now Opal.

School eventually ended and we all got on the bus again. It turns out that Opal lives on our street, too. She lives a few houses down, but she doesn't like to go outside. She moved here before Ian so he never met her before.

"So where do your parents work?" Opal asks. We were sitting on the bus. I was in the middle and she was beside the window while Ian sat beside me next to the isle.

"I just live with my mom. And she works at home,"

"What happened to your dad?" I pause and start to think about him. I don't really remember him. I remember that he promised to take me to the park at night once to see the stars, but he never did. He never kept his promises (I heard Mom scream that at him once.) I shrug.

"I don't really know," I feel Ian tense a little and I know he's listening to me. He takes my hand and squeezes. I smile at him, but I can see that he's sad for me. I look back at Opal and we start to talk about stuff like dolls and clothes. The bus eventually stops and all four of us get off and go to my house. I slam the door behind us and scream at my mom.

"I'M HOME!" I hear her run to the door and she smiles at us.

"Who are they?" I point them out and we walk to the kitchen.

"Your mom's cool," Melanie says as she takes a bit of an apple. I blush.

"Yeah, she's ok, I guess," Opal laughs.

"Well, she's better than mine. We're both red heads, but she's the one with the temper. It gets a little crazy at our house. All though, I DO have a big family. I have 6 siblings,"

"If any of them are like Kyle, your mom's a saint," I giggle, which always makes his face up. They stay for a few hours, but then my mom thought they should get home before their moms worried. Melanie rolled her eyes, but Opal agreed because she didn't want to get embarrassed by her mom. Ian walked to the door a few minutes after Melanie and Opal left and took my hands in his.

"You're pretty great, you know that?" I nod, looking down and blushing a little at the compliment. I'm not used to them. He smiles. That's when I feel him peck my cheek. I look up at him and he turns around sharply, basically running to his house. He turns around on his porch and we wave, both our faces red. I walk back inside and close the door, but just stand there.

Ian kissed my cheek.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4! So, I'm taking a break from "Another Life" because my mind has hit a blank wall for that story. I really have no clue where I want to take it so I'm going to be focusing on this story and "Sweet Hearts." Just so you know, I had a stupid project for my English class on the Tower of London (it was a Halloween project so it focused on the ghosts there) so I haven't been able to write as much. In this story, though, it'll skip a few months or weeks at a time, just so you know for future reference. Super long chapter today, too! Ok, enjoy!**

**Ian POV**

I shut the door, catching a glimpse of a red faced Wanda. Why did I do that? I'm so embarrassed! I run towards my room, but hit a huge obstacle. I look up to see Kyle trying to keep from laughing.

"Hey, Ian. Why's your face so red?" He's trying hard to not laugh. That makes me angry, turning my face even redder. He laughs so hard, he falls into the wall. He stands back up and I shove him back into the wall and stomp to my room. I slam the door and lock it, but I can still hear Kyle laughing downstairs. I plop down on the bed, burying my head in my pillow, eventually falling asleep.

**Two Months Later**

I sit down my math workbook and walk over to my window. I watch Wanda's house and stare a few minutes, not really focusing on anything. I see the front door open and a flash of blonde. Wanda's running out the door, barely closing the door behind her as she runs over to our porch. I hear a knock and race down the stairs, repeatedly screaming that I'm going to get it. I hear the door open before I get there and I get angry again when I hear Kyle talking to her.

**Wanda POV**

Someone bigger than Ian who looks like Ian opens the door. My words are lost and I just look at him. He's grinning as he leans against the doorframe. He turns his head around back inside the house.

"Ian! Your girlfriend is here!" I here stomping and Ian's behind him, punching him hard in the arm.

"Shut up, Kyle," Kyle's grin disappears and he hits Ian's arm. Ian narrows his eyes and they both start to punch each other.

"BOYS! QUIT BEING MORONS AND STOP FIGHTING!" I hear a deep voice say. They immediately stop and Kyle and Ian glare at each other. Ian shoves Kyle out of the way and smiles really big as he walks toward me.

"Sorry about him. He's lost a lot of intelligence when he started being compared to me," I giggle and Kyle pushes Ian's back. Ian swings his arm back and manages to hit Kyle in the arm again. I cringe as I hear the smack. Ian didn't see me, though. When he turns back to me after shooing off Kyle, his smile is back. I smile, too. "So what was it? Not that I don't want you to be around, "He adds quickly. His face gets red and I giggle.

"It's ok. My mom just reminded me that my birthday's in a week. I'm going to have a party at the park. We're going to watch the stars and play on the play ground, but it'll be fun because I've never been to the play ground at night. Do you want to go?" He smiles, taking my hands.

"Of course, Wanda! Why wouldn't I?" I squeal and give him as big a hug I can give him. He laughs and wraps his arms around me.

**Ian POV**

I feel my face heat up as she hugs me tightly, well, as tight as she can with her small arms. She smiles as we stand on my porch and hug. All too soon, she lets me go and smiles the biggest smile I think I've ever seen on someone so small. It make smile, too.

"Wanda!" I hear her mom yell across the street. We both look up and she smiles, waving at us. We wave at her and she walks, well, more like jogs, over to us. "Hi, Ian. Are you going to come to Wanda's party?" I nod.

"Yeah, she's my friend and Kyle goes to his friends' birthday parties. I want to go to Wanda's," Wanda's mom smiles and I hear a knock behind us. We look to see my mom standing at the door, smiling.

"Hi, Elisha, Wanda," She looks down at Wanda. "I heard your birthday's coming up," Wanda's huge smile comes back and I smile, too.

"Yep! I'm having it at the park! But it's going to be at night so we can watch the stars and play on the playground!" Our moms laugh and my mom ushers us into the house. Our moms start talking about boring mom stuff so I ask Wanda if she's hungry. She nods so we sneak into the kitchen. My mom had just made some cookies so we each take four and run up to my room, Wanda's giggles echoing through the hallway until we shut my door. We sit on the floor and turn on the TV and eat the cookies, laughing like we always do with each other.

**Elisha POV**

Rebecca takes me into her living room and she goes to get something from the kitchen while I sit on the couch. I look around me. Rebecca obviously likes to decorate because she has beautiful pillows on the couch I'm sitting on. She has a small table in the right corner with a huge vase filled with huge blooming roses of every color. On the left wall is a brick fireplace with some picture frames on the sill of Ian and his brother, I think his name is Kyle. On the right wall is the huge window like the one in every house in the neighborhood with thick, heavy dark brown curtains draping over it.

"I have some hot tea! Have you ever had hot tea before, Elisha?" I smile and nod.

"What kind is it?" I ask, picking up a cup. She smiles and picks up the other cup.

"I made us some pumpkin spice tea because that's my personal favorite and I wasn't sure if you'd ever had it before," I smile as I take a sip. Flavor takes over my mouth, consuming it with the taste of pumpkin, reminding me of the fall and Halloween, which is just a few weeks away. The heat of the tea warms me all over, heating up my bones that have been frozen for so long. I smile as I swallow and look up to see Rebecca smile, too. "The first sip and the last sip are always the best,"

"They are always the best. Wanda's never had it before I don't think. The last time I had it was when I was married to Wanda's father," I break off, taking another long sip of tea. Rebecca looks down at her tea.

"Did you just divorce?" I swallow, thinking through my response so as not to worry her so much.

"A few months ago. We lived in a little town just outside of Knoxville. Do you know where that is?" I ask. She nods and I continue. "Well, I grew up in that little town. I was a good kid, honor roll, track team, soccer team. I was the valedictorian, too," I smile at the memory.

"I got academic scholarships to go to Harvard, Yale, some of the best colleges around. I didn't go to any of them, though. I just went to a community college in South Carolina. I went back home after four years of college and worked for a newspaper. That's where I met Wanda's father," I hold back the tears that were sure to start. I had to fight them, though. My memories will not break me this time. I really don't know how I started talking about my whole life, it just kind of happened. I take a deep breath and close my eyes, keeping the tears from falling down my face. I feel her hand rest on my wrist and gently squeeze. I smile and I start to talk again. There's no sense in fighting the tears now. They flow down my face as I continue, my eyes still closed.

"I was happy with him the first few months. Everything was fine. That's when I got pregnant with Wanda,"

"_You're _what_?!" I flinch when he raised his voice as he pushes his chair back so fast that it falls back and lands with a loud bang that echoes throughout the whole house. I nod. Maybe I shouldn't have told him I was pregnant. I thought he'd be happy. "It can't be mine! We've used protection!" I say nothing as he starts to pant, running his hands through his beautiful brown hair. I just want to run my fingers through it. He turns his light green eyes on me. Instead of the usual warmth in them, they have a new cold, icy stare. I don't flinch again. I stare him right in the eye, not dropping my gaze. His eyes narrow as he makes his way over to me._

_He shoves me and I stumble backwards, falling over a chair and hitting the kitchen floor with a loud thump. My back is throbbing and there's a strange sensation in my currently small stomach. I look up to see him standing over me, his eyes full of betrayal and anger. And pure, cold hatred. I start to shake as he reaches down, yanking up my shirt so my stomach shows. He stares at my belly for a moment, trying to see through to see his baby. That's when there's a sudden, painful, sharp jab in my stomach. I cry out and look just in time to see him kick my stomach, our baby._

_Tears stream down my face as I scream for him to stop before he kills the baby. I see a piece of something beside me. I grab it before he sees me and stab my leg. I scream again with the additional pain going through my body. He stops and sees all the blood that's now coating the floor. He stands up and walks out of the room. He doesn't look back or come back, even when I start to sob really hard and rub my stomach. This baby is no longer his baby. This baby is mine._

~Line Break~

_I walk up to the front door and knock. I hear footsteps on the other side and then the door is opened. A ragged-looking Seth stands in front of me. His face lights up when he realizes it's me. He wraps me in his arms and I start to cry silently. He shushes me and leads me into our home. He repeatedly apologizes for trying to kill the baby and asks what I named her._

"_Wanda Elizabeth Daniels," His smile falters a bit as he pats her head awkwardly._

"_Daniels?" I nod. "Why did you give her your maiden name?" I sigh._

"_For now, that's her name. She'll be living with my parents until we work things out better and I know you care enough not to try and kill her again," He nods as if expecting this answer. "Seth, I love her too much to give her to the first person I see. Even if it's you, I just don't know if I can trust you with her life again," He nods again, but stays silent._

"_She looks exactly like you," I look down at my daughter. She opens her big grey-blue eyes that match mine and smiles a little as she looks at her father. Her golden hair and skin color match mine, too. He's right. It's like we're twins. He looks back up at me, a child-like grin on his face. I smile with him and he leans in and kisses me._

~Line Break~

_I take the bag of necessities and take Wanda's hand. Her huge eyes are filled with confusion and fear._

"_Why are we going without dad?" She whispers like I told her to. I put my finger to my lips and pick her up, putting her on my hip. I tip toe run to the front door and close it as quietly as I can. I run as fast as I can with the additional weight to the car. I put Wanda in the back seat and buckle her up, kissing her forehead. I feel my pockets and find the wallet with the check for 250,000 dollars to get the house in Crater, Tennessee, which I hope I can find._

_I get in the driver's seat, my left leg hanging out the open door. I start to roll the car out of the driveway as fast as I can. I get out of the driveway and start to push my car down the road._

"_Why isn't the car turned on, Mommy?" I smile at her innocence._

"_So Daddy doesn't hear the car and wake up," She doesn't answer, probably thinking about my answer. She's unusually smart for a five year old. Once I get off our street, I start the car and pull my sore leg back inside the car and close my door. I look in the rearview mirror and see that Wanda's asleep. I smile through my exhaustion and drive onto the highway, on my way to my new life with just Wanda._

~Line Break~

_My cell phone rings again and Wanda hands it to me with both her small hands. I smile as I take it. Its Seth again. I sigh and decide we're probably far enough away for him to not figure out where we're at now._

"_Hello?" I ask as sweet as possible._

"_Where the HELL are you and Wanda?!" He shouts into the phone. I cringe, half expecting a blow that I never had to fear before him. I tell Wanda to stay in the hotel room, not to let anyone in, and I go out onto the balcony._

"_We're staying at a hotel right now. I bought a house and I have a new job, too. We're going to be fine, Seth,"_

"_I'm coming to get you guys. Women can't live alone, they need a man!" He rants into the phone. I keep my cool, he'll never find us._

"_Like I said, we'll be fine, Seth. Bye," I almost hang up when I hear it._

"_We're getting a divorce," I stop and put the phone back up to my ear._

"_Ok, I already left anyways," I say. I must appear and sound calm on the phone and to anyone who might be watching, like anyone would be watching. On the inside, I almost feel betrayed, which I shouldn't since I'm the one who left in the first place. He sighs._

"_I already filled out everything I needed to. I've paid for it and everything. All you need to do is sign it. I need to do it in person, Elisha. I can get it signed over the phone," Now I sigh. A few tears leak out, but I fight the thousands threatening to pour down my cheeks._

"_We'll meet you at Greensboro, the little Italian restaurant we went to on our first date," I hang up, not even saying bye. I wipe away the few tears that I let fall and go back inside to see Wanda sitting in the floor, drawing something on a notepad. I go behind her and look at it. The whole page is covered in stars and a huge moon that takes up half the page. It's not something that a normal little girl would do. But, then again, Wanda has never been an average child._

_I pick her up by her waist and she squeals, laughing so hard. I spin her around in the air as she laughs and giggles some more. I put her down a few minutes later and kneel down the eye level, resting my hands on her shoulders._

"_Help me pack up everything again. We're going to leave tomorrow, ok?" She smiles really big and nods, running over to her small little backpack and puts in her notebook, pencils, and clothes. I start doing the same, except with everything else._

~Line Break~

_Wanda scoots into the booth at the Italian restaurant. Seth isn't here yet so we go ahead and get our drinks. We were about to order when he comes strolling in like he had all the time in the world. I sigh as he comes over to us. Wanda smiles really big at him._

"_Hi, Daddy!" She says as she waves at him. He smiles that gorgeous smile of his and Wanda crawls over me and jumps off of the seat, running into her father's arms. He spins her around, telling her how beautiful she is. She giggles and takes his hand, pulling him over to the table. I get up and let Wanda crawl back into the seat. I just stare at my beautiful little girl, trying to avoid the inevitable event that brought me back here. I feel a hand take mine and I look up to see it was Seth of all people. He smiles a sad smile at me and I do the same._

_We sit down again. He sits across from us, getting the same thing he always does when eating Italian, Pizza capricciosa, which is tomato, mozzarella, mushrooms, artichokes, black olives, and green olives. I got a supreme pizza that Wanda was going to share with me._

_We talked about things, Wanda pointed out where she just lost a tooth, and we ate like the family I always wanted us to be. I wanted to believe that we could all go back to the house and Wanda could go to bed. I could make some hot tea and Seth and I could go back to how it was before Wanda was born. But I knew we couldn't have that happen. I already got a job at Crater and I need to do my job. Seth and I haven't worked since I found out Wanda was going to come into our family. No matter how well tonight is right now, it isn't going to be like this for much longer. Once the table is cleared of the plates, Wanda starts to draw and shows some to Seth. She eventually starts to talk to a girl that looks to be about 13 and gets up to play with her. That's when Seth just sits there, staring at me. I stare right back, both of us with small smiles on our faces._

"_You know," He says after a few content minutes of just staring at each other. "Wanda is really beautiful. Not just in her face, which she is, but in her personality, how she thinks and talks. Just like you," I blush, but quickly ry to diminish it. He's done this to me before and I refuse to let him do it again._

"_Where's the paper?" I ask. His smile disappears as he puts it on the table, a pen beside it._

"_We don't have to do this, you know," I shake my head as I pick up the pen. "Wanda will need a father when she gets older to threaten the boys that'll be running crotch first at her," I fight the smile that tried to break through. "I'm serious, Ellie. That girl will be a heartbreaker, now and later," I dot the 'I' in my name and close the pen, handing both the paper and pen back to him. I look him in the eyes when I answer._

"_I'm scared to get hurt again. Not heartbroken, Seth, but how you hurt me before. I don't want Wanda having to go through that, too. I'm sorry," I stand up and walk over to Wanda. "Come on, honey. It's time to go," She waves at her new friend as I pick her up, putting her on my hip. She reaches out to Seth and they hug. I hug him, too. "I really am sorry, Seth. Just know, I'll always love you with my whole heart. But I have to take on this new responsibility whole heartedly and let you go," I squeeze him one last time and walk out, leaving him standing alone in the middle of the restaurant._

~Line Break~

I open my eyes again to see Rebecca sitting beside me, hugging me as best she can and still give me my space.

"But I'm much happier here, no matter how much I miss him, I had to let him go. He's hurt me too much to keep me," I feel more tears fall down my face and I hug my new friend back, squeezing her for dear life.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know," She says. I laugh a little.

"How could you know?" She laughs a little, too, and pulls back. I see the tears in her eyes, too.

**Wanda POV**

Ian wraps his arms around me to keep me from falling and drawing their attention to us. He helps me sit down and lean back against the wall.

Tears stream down my face as I think about my dad. I haven't thought about him in a while. I had almost forgotten him. I can't believe someone would do something so terrible! Ian just sits beside me, silently giving me comfort. He wraps his arm around my shoulders and I lean on his chest, crying silently as I listen to our moms as they talk of lighter things. Once I calm down, we walk into the kitchen and get some more cookies. I couldn't cry anymore, even if I wanted to. Ian just stays beside me, keeping an eye on me, I guess.

I feel much better with him near me, I always feel better near him. Our moms come in a few minutes later. By then, Ian and I were laughing so hard, I almost fell off my stool. This made us laugh even harder and when we eventually calm down, my mom says that's it's time to go home. I hug Ian.

"Please don't ask your mom about us. I don't want to remember, ok?" I feel him nod and I pull back, smiling at him. I say bye to them and my mom and I walk across the street to my house. The next thing I know, my mom pushes me forward and the last thing I see is the bright light of a car going by really fast.

**A/N: Cliffhanger! Again, super sorry about not updating in a while for any of my stories!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok, so I have fallen in love with this story so until my writer's block can clear up for "Sweet Hearts," this will be my main priority (you know, besides stupid school =P) and I want to apologize for that. It's very irresponsible of me as a writer, but I can't seem to see where I should take that story. Again, super sorry to all readers of "Sweet Hearts," but I have fallen for this and don't have a writer's block for this story so I will continue until I have one. Sorry this one's a little short compared to the last chapter, but this is mainly a filler.**

**Rebecca POV**

I put my hand on Ian's back and push him in front of me into the house. I felt terrible for Elisha and Wanda. Wanda probably doesn't remember her father. I look around the living room and see Thomas sitting on the couch beside Kyle while they watch some sport on TV. Ian's sitting at the open window, his head resting on the sill as he stares up at the sky. I smile, fresh tears forming in my eyes as I remember what Elisha had to go through. I feel so lucky to have gotten my family with minimal effort. Thomas and I dated since freshman year of high school and got married when I graduated from college. We lived together since my second year in college. A blood-curdling scream pierces the air through the open window. Kyle mutes the TV as Ian sticks his head out the window. He pulls it back in and runs out the front door. I chase after him, Thomas and Kyle right behind us. I stop dead in my tracks when I see what happened.

**Ian POV**

I see the horror, but I don't stop running. I keep searching for Wanda. _Wanda. Wanda, Wanda, Wanda, Wanda. Where are you? _I falter when I see long, golden curls that have become something of a life line. I run over to see Wanda lying in a huge pool of blood, her chest barely moving up and down. I pick her up and hold her.

A gentle tear rolls down my cheek as I hold my best friend.

**Rebecca POV**

**Two Weeks Later**

Ian lets go of my hand as we walk into the hospital and go to Wanda's room. He takes her hand and her eyes flutter open. She smiles, but I can tell it hurts to and it takes all her power to manage it. Ian frowns and squeezes her hand.

"Don't try to act like you're ok. You're still hurt, Wanda," She gently shakes her head, curls going everywhere.

"I'm fine, Ian. Really," He looks at her for a minute, but sees how stubborn she'll be and sighs. They just sit there and smile at each other. I smile and walk out of the door way towards my best friend's room where the sadness and worry are almost too much to bear.

But I'll do it for her.

~Line Break~

"Please wake up, El. I know you can, honey. Wanda needs you," I feel her pulse again. It's steady for now, but I would feel much better if she would just open her eyes. Wanda woke up hours after the accident, but Elisha has still slept. The doctors can't do anything for her unless she wakes up. But the thing is, they don't know if she _will _wake up. I hear a noise near the door and turn my head to see Thomas holding two coffee cups in his hands, a small, sad smile on his perfect face. I give the same smile and he walks over to me, sitting the coffees on a table. He wraps me in his huge arms and I feel a few tears glide silently down my face and wet his shirt. He rests his chin on top of my head, whispering about how everything will be fine.

"How do you know, Thomas?"

"I just know, love. I tend to know these things," I manage a smile through the tears I refuse to acknowledge. He lets me go and I sit down beside Elisha again, taking her hand in mine. He takes my other hand, rubbing circles with his thumb. I let go of Elisha's hand to reach for my coffee when I hear her groan.

"Wanda,"

**Wanda POV**

Ian's my favorite medicine. The other stuff tastes bad or has to go through a needle, which I'm scared of. But Ian always manages to make me laugh when I'm too tired to even lift my head too much. We're both laughing so hard I can barely breathe when there's a knock at the door.

"Come in!" I say. Mel comes running in with Opal trailing in behind her. Opal's siblings come in while their moms go to see my mom like they have the past few weeks. They smile and hug me, telling me I look like I'm getting better.

"I wish you were totally better right now!" Mel whines like she has every day. "I'm almost completely alone at school!" I laugh.

"You know, besides the _hundreds _of other kids in our grade," I joke, making us all laugh, even Mel. Opal shows me pictures of the puppy her dad might get them and we talk about everything that comes to mind.

Everyone had been here about 15 minutes when there's another knock at the door. I tell them to come in and I see my nurse, Molly, with a wheelchair.

"Wanda, baby, I need you to get in here, ok?" She says while pushing it beside my bed.

"Why, what's wrong?" She looks at me, a look in her eyes I don't understand.

"Your mother," She says. My heart skips a beat. "Your mother woke up and she wants to see you. Now,"

**Rebecca POV**

"Wanda?" Elisha asks, more urgent now.

"Shh, Elisha. She's fine. We're bringing her in here right now, ok?" She looks up at me and smiles.

"She's ok," I smile, too.

"Yes, she's fine," Right then, one of the nurses rolls Wanda into the room in a wheelchair. Wanda smiles really big, bigger than I've seen since she woke up.

"Momma!" She says, holding her arms out. Elisha does the same and Thomas picks Wanda up out of her wheelchair, laying her down beside Elisha. They hug and when I see Elisha's face, tears are streaming down her face. Wanda looks very happy and excited that her mom's ok. Elisha asks what happened and I explained that a drunk driver was speeding down our street and hit both her and Wanda. Elisha shakes her head.

"I feel so irresponsible," Now I shake my head.

"You pushed Wanda out of the way, which is the only reason that she's alive today! Elisha, I don't want you to ever say that again, ok?" I saw Wanda flinch out of the corner of my eye and immediately felt guilty for scaring her. She looked fine, but I could see she was a little nervous. Elisha held her closer and nodded.

"Ok, whatever you say, Becca," I smile and hug both Wanda and Elisha.

~Line Break~

**Elisha POV**

"Are you positive?" She nods very slowly. I felt tears stream down my face for the second time today. But instead of tears of joy, these are tears of grief. "Could I, by any chance, contact my ex-husband about this?"

"Of course. But I would hurry to make the arrangements soon," I nod and she hands me my cell phone. I don't ask how they have it. What matters is getting a hold of Seth.

~Line Break~

"How?" I sigh.

"I don't know, Seth. All I know is that I've apparently had it for a few years," Silence on the other end rings through my ears.

"I can't, Ellie. I just can't do that," My heart breaks again.

"Why not? She's your daughter, Seth, your daughter!" My voice is thick with the fresh tears falling onto my lap. He sighs.

"Elisha, I'm so sorry. I just can't. She probably doesn't even remember me. She was so young when we split up. She's got a life down there and I can't take that from her. I know how much you adore her, how much you love her, and I know for a fact that you don't want to ruin her happiness," He pauses, waiting for a response. "Do you?" He asks. I shake my head.

"No, I just want her to have the chance to a happy life," I can feel all the love that I tried to push away, to disintegrate, come back like a hurricane, breaking my heart again and again and again.

"I'll be there tomorrow as soon as I can, Ellie, ok?"

"Ok," He chuckles a little.

"I hope you know, I've imagined telling you that so many times, but never under these circumstances," I manage a weak chuckle and we hang up.

The only thing left to do is wait and worry. And don't forget the crying over my little baby.


	6. Chapter 6

**I see I'm making you guys worry. Sorry, but everything will be very sad for a while. I can't help it, though! Only I know where this is going so you guys will be very sad for a while. You're not alone, though, in your sadness because I'll be just as sad. I'm listening to Flyleaf's "Broken Wings." Ok, go on and read. PS: Linda is Mel's mom while Regan is Opal's mom. Also, I cried writing this.**

**Seth POV**

I run over to the taxi and tell him to take me to the hospital. I pant a little with the unexpected run. I smile, remembering when I would run beside Ellie when I tried to get her to like me. It always made her laugh that I couldn't run very far. I remember when she walked down the aisle, looking like the angel I've always thought she was. Her huge blue-grey eyes filled with tears she stubbornly refused to let fall, refusing to show how nervous she was to be married.

I sigh, my smile diminishing as I remember why she left. It's not that I didn't want a baby. I just wanted some more time to be alone with Ellie. I was so scared, so afraid of having a child with Down syndrome like my brother, Hank, and I didn't want her to have the baby die after it was born like Hank's daughter, Jane. I guess I let Hank's troubles and sadness affect my life. Mom always told me not to let Hank's choices affect what choices I make, but I guess I let that happen. Now, Ellie's dying and I can't try to win her back because she might not live much longer.

~Line Break~

The taxi pulls up in front of the hospital. I pay him and run into the hospital. I basically throw myself at the secretary, almost begging to know where Ellie is. She points down the hall, saying room 213 and I run to the door. I slow down and stop, looking at the number on the door. _213._ They gave her an unlucky number. How dare they? Do they _want _her to die? I open the door slowly and see a very frail looking Ellie. I sigh, holding back the tears to seem brave for her. I walk over to her and her eyes open. She seems to come to life when she sees me. She smiles and I take her hand, squeezing gently. She smiles and closes her eyes again.

"Have you seen Wanda yet?" She asked, eyes still closed. She looks like a corpse already. Her breathing is becoming shallow. I swallow hard, being brave for her. It's getting harder, though. I shake my head.

"No, not yet," Her smile grows a little.

"I know you're nervous, for me and for Wanda, but you have to face your challenge head on. If you don't, it'll be as if you never even mattered. Your memory will slowly die away like I am right now," I swallow hard again, still fighting the coming tears. I know they'll win, but I'll fight them until I can't anymore. She stops talking. I get panicky, wondering if the end has come already. But her eyes open, a small smile on her face again. "I'm sorry I'm leaving you again," I smile a little. I can tell she really means it. "I never stopped loving you, Seth. Not one day went by when you weren't on my mind. Even when I signed the divorce papers I still loved you. I'm so sorry I had to go again," Her smile falls and worry takes over. She's always been a worrier and I wonder if Wanda worries like Ellie does. I smile a sad smile and squeeze her hand again.

"It's ok, love. I never should have done those things to you. I want you to know that I love you so much. I never stopped loving you. When I hurt you, I felt that pain, too. Oh please don't die on me and Wanda. I'm scared that she'll hate me," Ellie smiles again, even chuckling a little.

"Seth, she doesn't know you physically hurt me. She can't hate you. But-" She looks over at the door, still smiling. "-you really should talk to her, meet her, get to know her. She'll need you soon," I squeeze her hand and stand up, her eyes closing. I bend down and kiss her forehead and walk to the door.

And a damn tear got out anyways.

**Wanda POV**

Ian, Opal, and Mel were sitting around my bed. Jared had just left after saying he felt bad for my mom and me. I didn't really care, but I was polite like my mom had taught me to be. Ian basically threw him out when he started to flirt with Mel, who wasn't paying him any attention. I kind of felt bad for him, he really like's Mel, and Ian basically threw him into a wall. I hear a knock and the door opens to a man. He looks sad and nervous. We all smile and I sit up straighter.

"Are you Wanda?" He asks. I smile and nod.

"Who are you?" He smiles a little and sticks his hand out to me.

"Hi, I'm Seth Roberts. I'm your father,"

**Ian POV**

Anger consumes me as Wanda shakes his hand, not smiling as much as before. So this is the guy that almost killed her and her mom. I already don't like him.

"Your mom wanted me to talk to you. And she wants to see you," we all stand up, but I help her in the wheelchair. She's not as weak anymore, but the doctors don't want her falling so they thought it would be safer if she kept using it. Mel rolls her down the hall while I walk beside her, her dad behind us. I hold Wanda's hand and she looks over at me from the corner of her eye. I can tell she's worried.

We go into her mom's room and she looks much worse than she did yesterday. She's ghostly white and I can see the blue of her veins from the door. Wanda gasps and Mel pushes her beside the bed. Her mom hasn't moved since we got in here. I here Seth walk a little faster to get the chair on the other side of the bed. He takes her other hand and stares at her face. He looks dead, too. Like all the life he had in him has been drained from him. Wanda starts to silently cry so I wrap my arm around her shoulder. She leans into my side, but doesn't look away from her mom. I feel sadness run through me as I look back and forth from Wanda and her mom. Her mom's eyes flutter and Wanda squeezes her hand at the same time Seth does. Her mom's eyes open slowly and they look over at Wanda and us first. Then, she looks at Seth and smiles a little.

"I'm ok. I'll be fine," Seth shakes his head, but doesn't say anything. Wanda doesn't seem to notice her father, but is totally absorbed by her mom.

"Are you sure you're ok, Mom? You don't look ok," Her mom looks at Wanda, smiling at us of us.

"I'm sure, baby," There's a knock at the door and we look up to see a doctor, smiling sadly, tears going down her face.

"Elisha, do you have everything fixed?" Elisha looks at Seth and he shakes his head.

"I'm so sorry, love-" I resist the urge to throw him into the wall like I did Jared. "-but I just can't do that. I do have a friend who runs an orphanage. He might take her in and find someone down here to take her," Elisha doesn't look too thrilled about that but nods anyways.

"Everything is settled," She says. The doctor smiles, but I see the pain she's trying to hide.

"Very good," She wipes her eyes and walks away. Elisha leans her head back against the pillow and looks at Wanda, who is still crying.

"Sweetie, your father has a friend, Jeb, who takes in children. If he says yes, you'll live with him," My face lights up.

"Hey, he lives a few houses past me!" Opal says. She'll still live near me. She'll be fine. I can still be near her. We'll be fine and happy.

"B-but what about you?" Wanda whispers. My happiness deflates once I realize that Wanda won't live with Elisha anymore. Elisha won't be living anymore. I feel guilty for forgetting that. Wanda's face, already streaked with tears, gets drenched again with more tears. Elisha starts to coo her.

"Ellie, tell her," Elisha looks over at Seth. The pain is visible in his face, the way he's sitting. I know he's hurting, too. "She's your daughter, your world. I know you don't want to hurt her more, but she has a right to know," Elisha just looks at him, but turns towards Wanda. Wanda lifts herself out of the wheelchair with my help and I help her lay down in the bed beside Elisha. They stare at the ceiling for a few minutes until Elisha starts talking.

"I have three tumors growing on my heart," We all gasp except for Seth. He flinches when she says it, though. His head falls into his hands. Elisha closes her eyes. The only noise in the room is her shallow breathing. I look at Mel and Opal to see them both in tears. I hear a noise by the door and see my mom with Opal and Mel's mom, all three in tears, too. My mom walks away. I hear her sobs echo down the hall. Linda rests her forehead on the doorway. Only Regan looks at us, even though tears are flowing in a steady stream down her face.

"They've been there for a few years. I knew about it, but there's nothing they can do for it. They're too big now. I could have had the surgery, but I didn't have the money for it. I didn't tell anyone, I didn't want any more pity than I already had. I didn't want it, still don't. I was foolish not to raise the money, save it up to get rid of the tumor. But two more grew with it. They've almost consumed my heart. When they take the rest of my heart, I won't be able to live," tears fall down her face. Wanda starts to sob, hugging her so hard. Elisha sobs with her.

"I'm so sorry," Elisha repeatedly sobs to all of us. I start to cry, too. Mel and Opal sob, hugging each other as they sink to the floor. I just stand there, crying pretty hard, but not making a sound. I turn to see my mom sobbing onto Regan's shoulder. Linda sobs on the door frame. Seth just sits there, not quite sobbing, but almost. He lifts his head and stares at Elisha again. That's when his sobbing starts. And then I start to sob. "I'm so sorry. I didn't think more tumors would grow,"

"Elisha, you should know that if one tumor isn't taken care of, it reproduces, creating more. How could you do this to us?" Mom asks. "I should know this stuff. I _am _a cancer doctor. I just can't believe this," And she starts to sob again on Regan's shoulder while Regan does the same. I just sob into the air, staring at Elisha and Wanda. Wanda starts to sob harder and she holds Elisha closer.

"Mom," Wanda keeps sobbing. I sob for her happiness. I sob for Elisha's mistake, her tumors, and her death that seems even closer than before. My mom stands behind me, holding me as we sob together.

**Three Days Later**

**Wanda POV**

I walk into the hospital with my dad, Ian, and Rebecca. I was released the day I found out about my mom's tumors. I can walk again without help, I even run again. I walk into my mom's room, where I sit beside her, my dad on the other side with Rebecca on one side of me, Ian on the other side of me. He holds my hand as I hold my moms. Her eyes open and she manages a weak smile. She squeezes my hand and I do the same. Mel comes in and sits across from us, Opal beside her. I smile at them and turn my attention to my mom.

"Honey," Her hoarse voice breaks the silence that had settled over us. "I want you to know how much I love you and how sorry I am for doing this," I shake my head, tears starting to fall again.

"No, it's fine. And you know I love you, too, Mom," She smiles and looks over at my dad.

"You know how much I love you, too, right?" He nods.

"I love you, too, Ellie. With my whole heart," She actually blushes a little. She looks normal with the blush, except for how skinny she is. She almost looks healthy again. She looks over at Rebecca, tears pouring down her face, too.

"Becca, I need you to help look after my baby. She means the world to me and I'm counting on you," A sob breaks out of Rebecca's chest as she wraps her arms around my mom.

"Of course, El, of course!" She sobs harder as she lets her go. She looks at Ian, Mel, and Opal, who had come over to us.

"Please watch over Wanda, too. She'll need you guys now more than ever," Thy nod. Ian squeezes my hand and I see he has tears streaming down his face, too, along with Mel and Opal. A few hundred more tears fall down my face as I hug my mom. When I let go of her and take her hand again, she's smiling and staring at the ceiling, silent tears going down her face. She opens her mouth again.

"I love you all," She croaks and then her chest stops moving. We cry more as my dad checks for her pulse, and then cries really hard, his face back in his hands. I let go of my mom's hand and do the same. Ian pulls me to his chest as I cry. I hear a chair squeal across the floor and someone walk out of the room. I don't look up. I'm too scared about where I'll go to wonder who left.


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm sorry I made you cry and gave her cancer! It made me cry, too! On another note, Wanda's birthday is actually Martin Luther King Jr. Day here in the U.S (not by accident, I wanted her birthday to be kind of special) Later in the chapter, a few years will pass so they'll all be older. Here you go with chapter 7!**

**Wanda POV**

When we pull into Ian's driveway, I hop out and run into my house, using the spare key under the doormat to get in. I hear them screaming at me, but I can't talk to anyone. I shut the door behind me and look around. I shiver and rub my hands up and down my arms.

"Mom. I'm home," I whisper as I slowly walk upstairs. I open her door, half expecting to see her sitting with a book there. I shake my head. She can't read a book in bed anymore. She's gone. I walk over to her bed. I run my hand over the grey covers. They're the same color of our eyes. I feel tears sting my eyes, but wipe my eyes before they can fall again. I pull myself onto the bed, rolling over on my back and letting my feet hang off the bed. I turn my head to the right so I can see the wall. Her huge calendar is still on the wall. I can see the day on it. January 20, my birthday. My birthday is today. My mom died on my birthday. I wipe more tears away. _Think happy thoughts._

I'm now 7 years old today. I smile through the tears that are falling again. I feel much stronger and braver. My smile fades as I stand up and walk into the closet. I need to smell her again. I open the door and I smell vanilla with a hint of coconut. I thought I heard footsteps. I sit in the bottom of the closet and close the door.

"Wanda?" I hear Ian yell. His voice echoes throughout the empty house. I stay silent as I rest my forehead on my knees. "Wanda?" I hear him yell again. I close my eyes, welcoming the dark that fits my mood. I hear some movement and feel a presence in front of me as the closet door opens. I hear him sigh. "Wanda," He moves around again and moves some things away from me, sitting right beside me, closing the door again. I don't move, don't look up, don't say anything. We just sit together. He lets me cry, not saying a word. After a while, I stop crying and feel soar so I lift my head and turn towards him. He's staring at the door in front of us. "I'm so sorry, Wanda," I take his hand and squeeze. He looks over at me and I smile a sad smile. It's my birthday. We're still having my party if you want to still go," He smiles, but I can see the sadness in his face and eyes.

"Anything for you,"

~Line Break~

**Six Years Later**

"Wanderer?" My blood turns to ice when I hear my real name come from my dad. My mom didn't even call me that after Ian nicknamed me. I don't like it. I don't answer. "Wanderer. You need to come down here right now," His voice is cold. I refuse to speak or move. I will not answer to my real name. My name isn't Wanderer, its Wanda. It might be smart to go to him, but he doesn't need me. I know this because he's told me. That was when he threw a vase at me. I had to get 165 stitches in my right arm. I hear footsteps coming up the stairs. I start to get nervous, but wait a few seconds, letting my mom's sent protect me for a few more seconds before I stand up and walking out of the closet, my refuge. Once I close the door, my dad comes into the room. He looks stiff, angry again. He reaches his hand out to me. I don't take it.

"What do you want?" I ask as politely as I can, for my mom's sake. She would want me to be polite, even through my irritation. His hand closes into a hard fist. I don't flinch. I stare him in the eye, but I know he knows I'm scared deep down, whether I show it or not.

"I'm sending you to the orphanage that I mentioned before your mother died," I hold in my tears and sobs. I hate it when he talks about her. He didn't love her like I do. To me, she's with me every day, watching and waiting to make me feel safer. I used to believe that her spirit lived in her closet. I still go in there and close my eyes, remembering when I first came here.

"Why? Had enough of the 'unbearable torture' that you have to 'deal with' while I live with you?" His jaw clentches has he slaps his hand across my face again. It stings, but it's nothing I haven't felt before. "I don't have to take this!" I scream at him as he stomps towards the door. "You know, I could have left, ran away, YEARS AGO! But I didn't! You know why?!" I shout. He stops and turns around slowly.

"So you could eat, live, have a life," His voice starts to gradually get louder. "So you didn't have to become a hobo, or a prostitute. Why else would you stay!" I flinch at his incorrectness. He doesn't know about the money, the job. Nothing.

"I didn't leave because I know how much Mom loved you. I knew it would mean a lot to her if I lived with you. But I don't want to stay here anymore. She thought that you had changed, but you still have it in you to hurt and kill if you want to bad enough. And I'm not ready to die just yet," I walk past him to my room. I slam the door and lock it behind me. I turn around and go to my closet, pulling out my suitcase and Nike drawstring bag I bought a few months back. I take all the clothes out of my closet and drawers, folding and putting them in the suitcase. I put my pair of Toms, pair of Uggs, and two pairs of Chuck Norris shoes in my drawstring Nike bag. I zip up my suitcase and turn to unlock my door when I look at myself in the mirror.

My long blonde hair is hiding most of my face, which is hard and cold-looking with anger and frustration. I clear my face of emotion as I continue to look at myself. My fitted Flyleaf T-shirt looks too long, even though it's a small. My boot-cut jeans fit perfectly over my buckled grey boots. I look back at my face and swear I see my mom for a second.

My dad is standing on the other side. I push him out of the way, debating whether or not I should stomp on him with my boots, but decide against it. I don't need more scars. I go up to the front door and look behind me. The house doesn't look like home anymore. My mom made it much prettier, more homey. My dad ran from around the wall to see me. I narrow my eyes.

"I'm going to the orphanage right now. I can't stay here another night," I open the door, stomp out, and slam the door. I hear him yell so I start to run hard. I get across the street to Ian's house and bang on the door. Ian answers and I run inside, tossing my things on the couch. He shuts the door.

"Lock it. He's coming," I hear him lock the door as I pant on the couch. He comes over to sit on the couch beside me, putting his arm around my shoulders as I calm down. Once my breathing goes back to normal, I start telling Ian about the latest incident.

"So you're refusing to go to the places away from here. You're going to stay here, right?" I nod, grinning.

"Of course. Why would I want to leave his behind?" He relaxes and we sit there, watching the TV where one of the greatest movies are on, "The Breakfast Club." The final line comes on.

"Does that answer your question? Sincerely, The Breakfast Club," and then the music starts to play and we're silent as we listen to the music play and the credits roll. There's a banging on the door that makes us jump. I pick up my bags and run into the kitchen as Ian opens the door.

"Where is she?" I hear my dad shout. Silence. "WHERE IS SHE?!"

"I don't know, sir," Ian says.

"I saw her run here," Silence again. "I SAW her run IN HERE!" I hear a thud, a crash. "And you're going to tell me where…she…is,"

**Ian POV**

_Please, Wanda, just stay in the kitchen. Don't come in here, stay in there where you're safe._ Of course, that's when Wanda comes in here. Seth lets go of me and I fall into the table again, but don't fall. He walks over to Wanda like a predator stalking its prey. I shake my head.

"Run, Wanda!" I say. She breaks out of her frozen stance and runs into the kitchen. Seth curses and runs in after her. I hear a door slam before he makes it into the kitchen. I text my mom, telling her I'll be back in a while, and run out the door after them. I see Wanda's flash of blonde hair running into the woods. And a flashlight running after her. As I get closer, I see Seth is holding something in his other hand, but I'm too far away to see what it is clearly. I try to get closer, but they're too far away. I push myself faster, trying to keep up and not lose them in the woods. I just hope that I can find my way back out of the woods. I get to the woods, not stopping to consider the roots on the ground. My only concern is Wanda and where she is. I start to get closer to Seth, which means I'm closer to Wanda. I push myself faster than I've ever went before. I get right on his heels almost, but then his flashlight shines on his other hand.

A knife.

That's when something grabs me from behind. I feel a tiny hand cover my mouth and immediately thank God that it's Wanda. I turn around and she lets go of me. But I wrap my arms round her, making sure that she's ok. She presses her cheek to my chest and I feel like we're in our own little bubble, separate from the world and surrounded by our happiness. I pull back and take her hand. We smile at each other as we run the other way, back towards my house.


	8. Chapter 8

**Isn't it interesting how Seth never changed? You'll learn a little more about him in this chapter, just so you understand his insanity. Here's chapter 8!**

**Seth POV**

I stagger back into the house. After searching through the woods multiple times, I realized that Wanderer had given me the slip. I sigh as I walk to the fridge. I pull out the wine and sit it in a bucket of ice. I go to the cabinet and pull out two wine glasses and pull out my phone to call Juni.

"Hello?" A musical, feminine voice says. I smile, remembering when I had her sing for me.

"Hello, Juni. Have you been singing?" She giggles. Elisha used to giggle. I shake my head. Elisha is dead, she left me with Wanderer. What a stupid name, _Wanderer._ I wonder why she chose that name?

"Yes, I have, actually. Is Wanderer there? If she isn't I can come over," I smile at hr excitement.

"No, she went to Melanie's house. She'll be there the next few days," I hint at her. She giggles again. Is she really trying to make me hang up and throw the phone against the wall? She's making me think about Elisha, a topic I would prefer to leave in the recess of my mind.

"I'll be there in a minute!" I tell her bye and hang up. I sit the phone on the counter so I don't do something I'll regret later. Like when I hurt Wanderer. It's not that I mean to, I just get so angry that I don't get to have Ellie anymore, that Wanderer looks _exactly like Ellie_, reminding me of every bad thing I did to my queen. I never meant to hurt them, it just happened. I smack my hand against the counter, my head hanging. I don't know why I do this to myself. I'm just causing myself more pain, both physical and mental. I don't let anyone know about my struggle to keep my grief, my anger and hatred, to myself. I hear a car door slam and look up at the clock. I've been standing here for 15 minutes, thinking about Ellie.

I rush to the door and open it with a sweep. Juni smiles at me as she comes in. Everyone in the neighborhood knows about Juni, sees through my lies that she stays to help watch after Wanderer. They know why she's really here. She slips her coat off, taking the thin, right shoulder strap of her seductive, skin tight, red dress. She slips her black heels off, sweeping her golden hair behind her shoulders. I run my hands through it, pretending it's Ellie's hair. It looks like it, just a little longer. She's about the same height as Ellie was, barely reaching my chest without heels. Ellie hated wearing heels. She preferred wearing Nike tennis shoes with her Nike shorts and tank top. She would run so far and so fast! I struggled to keep up. I tilt Juni's head towards mine and her light green eyes flutter closed as my lips meet hers. She tastes like strawberries, but there's no spark, not like what I felt when Ellie kissed me. This was like a habit, not something I really wanted. She pulls away from me and looks at me, mischief written all over her face.

"Bedroom?" She asks seductively. I smile at her devilishly.

"Immediately," She smiles bigger and runs to my room while I chase her, again, out of habit.

**Wanda POV**

I walk into Ian's kitchen with him behind me. I go to the fridge and pull out a few water bottles, stuffing them in my Nike bag.

"Do you want me to go with you? I mean, you shouldn't have to walk there alone, Wanda," I smile and shake my head.

"What if my dad's waiting there for me?"

"That's why you need me to go with you! I don't like him hurting you like he does! I can get Kyle to drive us, too," He probably can't, but he could try. I sigh. Once Ian gets his mind set, there's hardly any stopping him.

"Fine. And you don't need to bother Kyle to drive us," He grins.

"Oh I think he'll drive us,"

**Ian POV**

"Please?" He shakes his head again as he shoots another zombie.

"No, can't you see I'm busy?"

"Oh, I can see you're busy being a jackass," I shake my head. "Dude, you _know _how bad her dad is to her. She just wants to get away. The fastest way to get to the orphanage is by car. You don't even have to drive us there! Dad's been teaching me how to drive! I can do it myself! All I need is the keys!" He sighs, pausing his game to stare at me.

"Fine, Ian. Fine," He tosses his keys to me. "Don't crash the car or do anything in it," I roll my eyes. She doesn't even know I like her. I jog downstairs to see her standing at the window, watching her house. She turns around and I shake the keys.

"Please don't wreak. I don't need another car accident or you hurt," I just laugh as I get her huge suitcase and we walk to Kyle's car. I put her suitcase in the back seat with her Nike bag. She gets in the passenger seat while I get behind the wheel. I look over at Wanda. She's staring at her house. We just sit there in silence for a few minutes.

"Juniper's car is there," She says. I look to see a white Escalade in the driveway. "My dad bought that for her. Did you know she's 19 years old? Barely older than us. My dad's turning 37 in a few months," She shakes her head and turns to me. "I don't understand what my mom saw in him. He disgusts me," She looks down at her hands in her lap, knotting them together and unknotting them. I reach over and take her left hand. My right hand seems to glow in the moonlight. I smile at her.

"Don't let his stupidity mess up your life. Don't let Juniper's either," I add. She smiles at me and I let go of her hand, taking the wheel. I feel like she's given me strength and bravery through our skin. I start the car and back out very carefully. I grip the steering wheel tightly so she doesn't see my hands shake. She rolls down her window and I do the same with mine. We start to drive down the street and I make it to Mel's house before I look over at her. She's laughing and making waves with her hand through the wind. I smile as her hair whips around her, appearing to make a halo around her head. I look back at the road, a huge smile on my face as we turn onto Main Street and into the Friday night traffic. I look in all my mirrors, drowning in paranoia. I feel her small hand cover my left and I look over at her. She smiles encouragingly.

"I know you can do it, Ian. We'll be fine," She squeezes my hand, but doesn't move her hand. My heart is racing inside my chest. I'm pretty sure she can hear it, but she doesn't move. She just stares at the cars in front of us. I focus on the road in front of us.

~Line Break~

"**Great Love" by Flyleaf comes on in car.**

"St. Anne's is just down the street," Wanda smiles.

"Thank you for taking me, Ian. I don't know how I can thank you enough for it," I smile at her as we pull into the parking lot, unbuckling our seatbelts. We get out of the car, but don't shut our doors. She walks over to me, the song echoing across the parking lot. I stick my hand out, palm up.

"Would you do me the honor of dancing with me before you go?" She smiles and takes my hand. She puts her other hand around my neck while my arm not holding her hand snakes around her waist. She giggles as I spin her under my arm. Her hair hits my hair softly as I twirl her around. It makes me smile to see her happy again. I twirl her back into my arms and our faces are close. Are heads lean in and the next thing I know, our lips meet.

**Wanda POV**

Fire slowly spreads from my lips throughout my body. My hands go around his neck again, pulling him closer. His arms wrap around me tightly, but gently. Lovingly. I run my fingers through his hair as his hands rub up and down my back. I feel my back lean against the car. The same song is playing in the background, but I barely hear it. All I hear is my heartbeat rabidly increasing. I feel his heartbeat do the same, his hands rubbing my back as we kiss. My body heats with a slow burning fire, spreading out from my back where his hands are. We break apart our lips and gasp for breath. He leans his forehead against mine and we grin, our eyes still closed. We stay this way until a light shines on us from a door. We look up to see a young looking girl. She looks to be about three with Shirley Temple curls framing her chubby little face. As she gets closer, I see that she's wrapped in a bathrobe with slippers on that have pigs on them. I smile at her and bend down to her height, even though I'm not that tall, and smile at her. She yawns and wipes her eyes. I laugh a little and she looks at me, eyes wide.

"Is that music for Bronwen? Because she keeps saying it is and I can't sleep with her talking," Ian and I laugh. He bends down beside me.

"No, it's just on the radio. It's not really for anyone right now. What's your name?" I ask. She puts her hands on her hips.

"Payton Wynn Cohen. What's your name?" She looks at me and I smile at her.

"I'm Wanderer Elizabeth Daniels," I look at Ian and he blushes. I urge him on.

"What about you?" Payton asks Ian. He grins and looks at me.

"Ian Alexander O'Shea," He sticks his hand out to her. I smile at them as she takes it. It reminds me of when he introduced himself to me when we were 6. Payton smiles at us.

"So why did you guys come here? Just so you know, you guys are at the orphanage parking lot," I laugh.

"Well, I'm going to live here now," Payton's eyes light up.

"Really?" I nod. She squeals and wraps her little, chubby arms around my neck. "THIS IS SO EXCITING!" She screams. I wrap my arms around her small body, shaking with laughter. I can hear Ian laughing, too. She lets me go and starts to run towards the door she left open when she came out here, her arms waving around like how Ian would run when crossing the street to my house. "I'VE GOT A NEW SISTER! AND SHE'S SO PRETTY! I'M SO HAPPY!" She runs into the building, still screaming that I'm her new sister. Ian looks at me and I look back at him.

"She's right, you know," I look at him curiously. "You're so pretty. More than pretty, beautiful. Perfect," I smile as his hand cups my cheek. We lean in and he kisses me again.

~Line Break~

A few minutes later, a woman who looks to be about my dad's age, maybe younger, comes out carrying Payton. Payton points to me excitedly.

"That's the pretty girl who's going to live here! See! Isn't she pretty?!" They get over to us and the woman sits Payton down and sticks out her hand to us.

"I'm Lara Hale. I look over the building and the children. We weren't expecting you until tomorrow, Wanderer. Why are you here right now?" So I told her about my dad.

"Oh and I go by Wanda," Ian puts his arm around my waist, his face bright and proud. Lara smiles at us. **(The music's stopped, by the way)**

"Well, you both should come inside," Ian shakes his head.

"Ok, let me get her suitcase," He kisses my cheek and gets in Kyle's car. He hands me my Nike bag and I turn around to face Lara. She smiles at usand shows us the way to the building. Payton tries her best to keep up, but I eventually lean down and pick her up like I use to do with Jamie. She wraps her arms around my neck, resting her head on my shoulder. We walk inside the building to see at least 30 or 35 kids standing on a huge spiral staircase. I look around the huge room. It looks like some rich person's mansion. Now how can a building look kind of small on the outside and be able to fit a huge spiral staircase in the main room? A girl with shoulder length jet black hair comes down the stairs towards us. Her hair's cut with side bangs hanging over one eye partly. She's about two heads taller than me and reaches her arms towards me. I look at Payton, who has her face set with determination.

"No, Bronwen. I want Wanda to take me to my room. She actually talks to me," Bronwen looks at me, hatred in her eyes.

"Payton, I'm your sister. I'm taking you to our room," Payton doesn't answer. Bronwen starts to walk away, but sends me a parting if-looks-could-kill stare. Ian wraps his arm around my waist and we look back at Lara, who's standing in the middle of the room. She claps her hands together and smiles a little.

"Ok, sorry for waking you all. This is Wanderer, sorry, _Wanda_, and she'll be living here for now," Some roll their eyes and stomp upstairs. Others groan, banging their heads against other's shoulders. Some, like Bronwen, send me death stares. "Now, shoo, the rest of you. You still have school tomorrow. Katlynd, you stay, though," She makes a sweeping motion and everyone walks back up the spiral staircase. I look back at Lara and she smiles. "Don't worry about getting lost, honey. Payton and Katlynd know this place like the back of their hands," And Lara goes across the room, Katlynd following her. Payton rests her head on my shoulder again and points up the stairs. I walk up, careful not to fall, Ian following behind. We get up the many steps to see you can go either left or right. Payton points left and we walk past probably about 58 doors until we find another staircase behind one of the doors. We go down there to another hallway and go past about 30 more doors until we hear someone behind us.

"Wait a minute!" We turn around to see Katlynd running towards us. She stops and starts to walk beside us. "I'm your new roommate, by the way. I thought you went to Payton's room first so I went there and had to listen to Bronwen rant FOREVER!" We keep walking, passing maybe 13 more doors before we stop at one. Katlynd opens the door and we walk in. Ian sits my suitcase on the floor beside one of the beds.

"Wanda, how did you run with that thing? It's kind of heavy," We laugh and I sit Payton down, who starts to talk and talk and talk to Katlynd. I turn back to Ian, who wraps his arms around my waist. I put my hands on his chest.

"I guess I'm stronger than I look," I whisper loud enough for him hear. He grins.

"I know that you're stronger than you look," He leans down and gives me a faint whisper of a kiss. "I want to make this official before I kiss you anymore. Will you please be my girlfriend?" I smile, even giggle a little.

"Of course, Ian. Anything for you," He grins and kisses me again.


	9. Chapter 9

**So I need to describe Bronwen a little better. She's basically an average height gothic teenager. She's actually 15, so she's two years older than Ian and Wanda, who are 13, sheerio4ever. Jamie, at this point, is 7 years old. There won't be an invasion; this story is an AU story so none of the aliens are coming. The character, Katlynd, is based on one of my best friends in real life and is 14. I made her a little more outgoing than my Katlynd really is. It's took me months to open her up in real life. I decided that I would show her how outgoing people can achieve pretty rocking awesome things. Katlynd, this one's for you! Also, sorry I haven't updated in a while. I couldn't decide how I wanted to end the chapter.**

**Melanie POV**

My phone rings under my pillow. I groan and pull it out, noticing it's 2:35 in the morning.

**Wanda**

I sit up and answer.

"Hello?" I ask sleepily.

"Hey, Mel. Listen, I might not be at the bus stop tomorrow. Ian took me to the orphanage I guess it was last night and they take the kids on a huge bus. Oh, and Ian and I are officially dating,"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA. Back up. You and Ian are dating? Like, officially? He asked you and you told him 'yes?'" She giggles and I smile.

"Yes. That's what happened. I'll tell you more tomorrow at school. Also, did you know that all the kids that live here go to our school, except the younger ones?"

"No. That's kind of cool, though,"

"I think it is, too. I have two new friends. My roommate, Katlynd, and a little girl with Shirley Temple curls named Payton. Payton's older sister, Bronwen, doesn't like me, though, because Payton wanted to stay with me a little longer before bed. So I have two friends and an enemy, I guess,"

"Wow, how exciting," I comment. It was sarcasm, but she doesn't seem to notice.

"I got to go. See ya tomorrow!"

"Ok, goodnight," We hang up and I shake my head. "She's definitely tired," I roll my eyes and lie back down, falling asleep in seconds.

**Wanda POV**

I put my phone on the dresser on my side of the room. I open my suitcase and take out my pajamas. I take off my clothes and put the pajamas on, tossing the dirty clothes in the bin Katlynd said was all dirty clothes. I go over to my bed and crawl under the covers. I squeeze my eyes shut and eventually fall asleep.

_I sit up in bed in a cold sweat, gasping for breath. I stare at the still blank wall across from me. I sigh, it was just a dream. I close my eyes, taking deep breaths to calm my worked up nerves. A bright light shines through my eyelids. Confused, I open my eyes and gasp._

_My mom smiles at me. She's dressed in a long white dress, a wedding dress. Her long blonde hair is braided down her back. She's holding a bouquet of flowers in her hands as she walks down an aisle. She smiles brighter as she arrives at the end, putting her hand in a man's. I stare in awe. My dad smiles at her, ease and excitement written across their faces. A preacher stands behind them as they smile at each other, pure happiness animating from them, glowing in the moonlight._

_I don't hear anything said, but then, my dad's hand cups my mom's face, his other arm wrapping around her waist. Their heads lean in and they kiss, sending sparks flying everywhere, setting things on fire in the room. I gasp and start to get up. But then they disappear. I'm half way out of the bed, looking around for more when it gets dark again. A sudden glowing makes me look up again._

_My mom stands in a room with a woman who looks older than her. They seem to be arguing. Tears are streaming down both their faces. That's when I can hear what's happening._

"_Elisha, I TOLD you that he was no good! Now look what you've done! You've left him and you're pregnant with his child!" The older woman yells. My mom shrinks away a little, but stands her ground._

"_Mother, I need to stay here. If you want this baby to know you will let me stay here," My grandma shakes her head._

"_I'm sorry, Elisha. I don't want you to stay here even after the baby's born. And that's if it survives through the pregnancy and infancy," Tears stream down my mother's face more. She wipes them away, nodding her head._

"_I guess you want to never meet your grandchild then?" My grandma wipes away more tears, but stays silent. It's quiet in what now has become a kitchen. My mom puts her hand on her stomach, on me, apparently. "This is your last chance. Do you want to be a part of the child's life or not?" Her voice is just above a whisper as she stares at her stomach. An older man walks in, putting a hand on my grandma's shoulder._

"_Elisha Hope Daniels you will not be living without us while you try to raise a baby on your own. Babies are hard enough with two people, let alone one. You're welcome to live here until you get back on your feet," My grandma shakes his hand off her shoulder as she stomps out of the kitchen. My mom walks over to him, hugging him tightly._

"_Thanks, Daddy," He smiles and squeezes her back._

"_Anytime, E," My mom smiles at him, kissing his cheek as she walks over to the refrigerator._

I hear my alarm go off and I turn it off, surprisingly wide awake. I blink a few times and look around the room. No light like last night. I shrug and get out of bed, walking over to my suitcase, pulling out a t-shirt and some jeans. I put on my boots from yesterday and put on my makeup. I look up to see Katlynd standing at the mirror, smoothing out her dress. She has kitten heels on with it. She turns around and smiles at me. I can see her face a little better in the light. She has fairish skin with black hair a little below her shoulders. She doesn't have any makeup on, unlike me. I walk over to her and sit her down on the bed and start to brush her hair.

"What are you doing?" She asks. I laugh a little.

"I'm going to braid your hair back out of your face," She grins in the mirror.

"You know, this is the first time anyone has ever done my hair?" I shake my head as I start to braid the front back. "It's true! I don't have any blood sisters and the ones that are like my sisters never learned how to braid. You're the first girl here that I know who is nice that knows how to braid," I snort.

"I'm sure there's someone here that knows how to braid," I say as I braid the middle back. She's silent as I take a second hair pin and pin it under the first one. I get about have way through the third section when she starts to talk again.

"So I know you've met Bronwen," I nod. "Well, I got up last night to get a drink and I heard her in the hallway talking about you to Payton. Bronwen was all like 'That girl is one bitch, right?' and Payton was all like 'She's very nice! And she doesn't talk to me like you do!' So they got into this huge argument where Payton took a pillow and blanket in the hallway and slept right there in front of the door! Can you believe that?" I smile and nod.

"I can, actually. Even though I've just met Payton, I can tell she's pretty spirited," Katlynd smiles bigger.

"Oh don't we all know it!" From here, I learn pretty quickly that Katlynd likes to gossip and knows about everything there is to know about everyone here. I eventually get the rest of the final section braided so I take a big hair clip, twist the ends of the sections together, fold them upward, and clip them. It was a very cool hairstyle that Mel has done to me many times. Katlynd clapped and thanked me thousands of times. We walk out of the room and we go back to the main room. We go down the second hallway this time, though, down two more flights of stairs, and through two huge doors. As soon as I enter I smell breakfast foods. It looked like a school cafeteria, but multiplied in size by, like, 8. We walk up to the line, which has about every breakfast food I've ever seen before.

Eggs anyway you want them, pancakes, waffles, and waffle pops in all flavors, bacon, biscuits and gravy, and a whole lot more. I took a lot of deep breaths as we got what we wanted. When we got what we wanted, we started to walk past all these tables. Some people waved at us, but others, like Bronwen and people near her, just stared right through us. I didn't let it bother me, though, and I kept walking beside Katlynd. We finally stopped at this table with about 15 kids at it, but the table had a lot of empty seats. When I first walked in here last night, I only saw around 30 kids in all. There seemed to be hundreds today! Katlynd sat down beside a freakishly tall girl who looked like she could be in her 20s she was so tall. She smiled at me, though, so I smiled back. I wouldn't take the chance of making enemies on my first day. I sat down beside Katlynd and started to listen to the conversation, which was what she told me earlier.

"So Payton slept right in front of their door!"

"I can see her doing that. I've known her since she was just a little baby and she's always been that way," The tall girl said. She looks over at me and smiles again. "Hello, there. My name's Saskia,"

"She's also known as Sas," Saskia rolls her eyes at Katlynd. Katlynd ignores her as she shovels her mountain of food into her mouth.

"I'm Wanda," Saskia smiles at me.

"That's pretty," A red head girl taller than me, but shorter than Saskia sits down across from me, sticking out her hand, a beautiful accent coating her voice. "I'm Ireland, by the way. I got it because, well, that's where I'm from. Dublin, to be exact. I have a little brother, too. We call him Dublin," I take her hand and shake it. She picks up her fork and starts to eat. Saskia starts to point at everyone around me at the table.

"This is Sybella, she's from North Dakota," Saskia points to a girl with her chestnut hair covering her face. She looks up at her name and smiles a little at me, even waving a little. I smile back at her. "That's Alys, Ally, and Aubrey," She points to the girls beside Sybella. They all three have orange curls almost to their elbows. They smile brightly at me. "They're the first and only triplets that we've ever had here. They came here from Portland, Oregon about three years ago. Then, we have Legend. I don't know his real name, that's what he introduced himself as," She points to a boy that looks to be about my age, maybe a little older. Ian's my age, too, but a lot taller. This guy was a few feet shorter than Ian, but still taller than me.

"No one will know my real name," He grins cockily and winks at me. Katlynd sees and looks over at me, wiggling her eyebrows. I pretend not to notice as I eat some more of my amazing breakfast. Once I finished, I knew everyone's names. Genesis, Haley, Gretchen, Chloe, Duke, James, Camden, Trenton, Braelyn, I knew them all. After breakfast, I walked out of the cafeteria doors will Katlynd, who brought an apple with her, and Saskia.

"So, how old are you, Saskia?" She laughs at my question.

"Well, I'm very tall for my age,"

"Extraordinarily tall," Katlynd interrupts. Saskia just keeps talking, though.

"I'm really only 15 and 1/2. I'm not that old," Katlynd laughs as she takes a bite out of her apple. I roll my eyes as we start down the hallway towards my room. We get inside my room and Katlynd and I get our school bags. I turn around when I hear a knock at the door. Saskia smiles, only her head poking through the door.

"You guys coming?" Katlynd swats her hand at her.

"Be patient, Sas. It's a trait you should learn," Saskia rolls her eyes. We walk out of the room and eventually make it out of the main door. In the parking lot are 6 school buses.

"Whoa! That's the most school buses I've ever seen in one place!" They laugh and we walk over to the triplets, Ireland, Dublin, and Genesis. We talk for a few minutes and then we get on the bus.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello! So I've created my account for The Ning for any fellow nerdfighters on there. Wow, already chapter 10! I hope you like the story so far because I for one really like it. Had many interesting conversations on The Ning last night….. It gave me plenty of ideas for later use. Ok, here's the chapter!**

**Ian POV**

I get out of Kyle's car, slamming the door. He honks at me as he speeds off, almost hitting multiple people. I shake my head. How did he ever get a driver's license? I start off towards the school when I hear people laughing behind me. I turn to see Wanda with an extremely tall girl that I don't think I've ever seen before and an average height girl. They were waving at Payton, who was on a bus that was driving away. I basically run over to them. I sneak up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist. She gasps, but soon relaxes into my arms.

"Hey, Ian," I kiss the top of her head.

"Hey, Wanda. How was your night?" She laughs a little.

"Better than it is back home. I had an amazing morning, though. There was so much food!" She turns around in my arms to face me, a huge smile on her face. "I had pancakes, muffins, and waffles! It was awesome!" I laugh at her excitement. "And I made some friends. This is Saskia-" she points to the tall girl,"-and this is Katlynd," Out of all three of them, Wanda is still the one that shines the most. "My other friends ran off somewhere," I release her and take her hand. We swing our arms as we walk, her friends following us. I start to talk about how crappy Kyle's driving still is and she just laughs at me, shaking her head.

We get into the school and Saskia goes down the 9th grade hallway, waving at us as she goes. Katlynd continues to walk with us and Wanda stops at her locker. I kiss her cheek and jog down to my locker, trying to be fast so I can get back to her. At least she didn't change her schedule so we still have every class together. When I slam my locker I start back towards Wanda's locker. I see her shut her locker and turn towards me. Her face is red as she smiles at me. I grin and get back over to her, wrapping one arm around her waist. We start walking to class and Katlynd waves at us as she walks into English. When we get into History, Mel shrieks and runs over to us. She pulls Wanda into her arms, squeezing her in what looks to be painful.

"Ok, Mel! Let me go! I can't breathe!" Mel lets her go, smoothing out her shirt for her.

"Sorry, Wanda," Mel looks up at me for a fraction of a second and then pulls her to the back of the room. I roll my eyes. As they whisper, Jared claps my shoulder.

"I heard you finally asked out Wanda. Took you long enough," I elbow him lightly. He laughs.

"Well, I'm so sorry that I didn't ask her out when we were 6, Jared," I say sarcastically. "But, then again, if I had, she might have said no, like Mel did to you. Rejection isn't fun, glad to have saved that for a later day," He elbows me a little harder than I did him. I elbow him hard and jog over to Wanda before he can get me back. She looks up, her face bright red, and smiles at me. I sit on the other side of her, taking her hand in mine and intertwining our fingers. Class, starts and we pretend to listen, but really just sit and talk and watch as other people watch us. I rub circles with my thumb across Wanda's skin.

About the middle of class, some dude comes in, papers falling out of his binder. He hands a note to the teacher and he nods. This kid must be new; I've never seen him before. Or maybe he just changed his schedule. He has brown hair and his eyes are green, bright green. As he walks down the aisle, he looks at Wanda and winks. I look out of the corner of my eye and see her turn her head towards Mel, then lightly smacking her arm as she turns back to face the teacher. I hold her hand a little tighter, trying to show she's mine, but the little ass doesn't turn back around. That might be for the better. I scowl at his back, anyways, though, just for effect.

**Wanda POV**

Ever since first period, Ian has hardly let my hand go. I didn't mind at all, but I wonder if he's doing that to gloat or something boys do. Mel says he's just trying to show me off, I am his prize. The thought makes me blush. I blink as we turn a corner and walk into the cafeteria. I look around and see my new friends at one table. I don't know how I've missed them. They look like a ragtag group of misfits, or that's what Mel would say. To me, they look like normal people. I start to walk over to them, dragging Ian with me considering that we didn't want to let each other go. Once I stop at the table, they all smile at me.

"Hey, Wanda! Hey, Ian! What's up?" Katlynd asks as she takes a bite of her sandwich. I shrug.

"Not much, I just wanted to say hi to you guys. I haven't talked to you guys since this morning!" Ireland shakes her head.

"It's fine, Wanda. You actually _have _a life. You might as well live it!" I roll my eyes. Ian squeezes my hand. I point to him with my other hand.

"This is Ian, by the way," There's a collection of 'hi' and 'what's up?' by a few people. I tell them bye and we walk over to our usual table. I sit down, but Ian walks over to the lunch line to get lunch. I realize that I should probably eat, but Mel starts to talk to me and soon, I forget I was hungry. Ian sits back down, a tray in each hand. He hands one to me and starts to eat. I dig in my pocket and try to hand him $3 under the table, but he won't take it. I silently sigh and start to eat. As I eat, I realize how hungry I am and soon finish. I get up to dump my tray with Ian and stop to talk to Ireland after she motions for me to come over there. I tell Ian I'll be there in a minute and he leaves after kissing my forehead. I crouch down beside her as she starts telling me how lucky I am to have such a handsome guy follow me around like a puppy. I blush and go back to sit beside Ian, taking his hand immediately. The day continues like this until the 3:00 bell rings. We walk out and I find Katlynd, Ireland, and everyone else. Ian kisses me bye, telling me he'll make Kyle drop him off before going home.

"I'll stand at the stairs with Payton. I hope I can remember how to get to my room," He grins and we kiss one more time before I run off towards the bus. I wave when I get there and he waves back.

I felt almost empty without Ian beside me on the bus ride back to the orphanage. It was weird, like last night changed me, like he changed me. I shake my head and start listening to Saskia talk about the crazy people she has classes with.

We eventually get back to the orphanage, shockingly in one piece. I get off the bus and walk towards the door with Katlynd, Ireland, and Saskia.

"WAIT UP! DON'T LEAVE ME WITH BRONWEN!" We hear Payton scream at us. We stop and turn around, her Shirley Temple curls bouncing and whipping around in the wind. Once she gets to us, I pick her up, balancing her on my hip, as she starts to gasp for breath. She rests her head on my shoulder. "I didn't have a good day at school. But I never do. I HATE it, Wanda," I smile a little.

"Now, why would you hate school, Payton? You're so smart," She shakes her head.

"No I'm not. I can't read the words on the paper like the other kids," I think through my mind for what that's called. And then it hits me.

"Hold on. Let's go to my room and I want you to show me. Ok, honey?" She nods and I walk faster to my room, Payton still showing me where to go because I don't remember how to get there. Once we get to my room, I sit her on my bed as I dig through my backpack. I pull out the first book I see, which happens to be my Math book. I open it to page 275 and point to a sentence. "What does that say, Payton?" She stares at it for a minute and looks back up at me.

"Hom to wake a function tadle, but that doesn't make any sense, Wanda!" I sigh, tears welling in my eyes.

"Baby, I'm pretty sure you have dyslexia. Do you know what that is?" She shakes her head. "It's when your brain mixes up letters. I think your brain mixes up 'w' and 'm' and 'b' and 'd'. We'll have to take you to a doctor or someone to be sure, but I think that's why you can't read," Her eyes are wide with surprise that I could tell her why she couldn't read so quickly.

"Can you fix it, Wanda? You're smart," I feel a few tear fall as I wipe them away, shaking my head. Tear start to well in her eyes, too. "Why not?" Her voice gets higher and cracks. I sob a little. "_Why not?_" She asks, more insistent this time. More tears fall from both of us.

"Because no one can fix it, no matter how smart they are. We can train your brain, but it isn't as easy as learning to talk, Payton," She sobs.

"Why am I sick and not Bronwen?! She's my sister, isn't she?" I stare at her. A few more tears fall from her hard, angry face. She stands up and runs out the door. I run after her, but don't yell at her. She runs into her and Bronwen's room. When I run in after her, she's facing Bronwen head on.

"What do you mean you're sick?" Bronwen asks.

"Wanda told me she thought the reason I can't read is because I'm sick,"

"Not sick, Payton. You might have dyslexia, which is not a sickness," I point out. They both ignore me, too absorbed in their argument.

"No, you're just stupid! You have no right to tell me what _she _thinks! _I'M _YOUR SISTER!" I flinch, but Payton stands her ground. "_NOT_ HER!" She points at me, but glares at Payton. "DO YOU _REALLY _THINK THAT SHE LIKES YOU MRE THAN I DO?! BECAUSE I DOUBTY SHE CARES ABOUT YOU!"

"NO, I DOUBT _YOU_ CARE ABOUT ME!" Payton's scream pierces the air, cutting through it like a knife. I flinch at how loud she got. "WANDA IS THE _ONLY _ONE THAT PAYS ME _ANY _ATTENTION! SHE TRIED TO FIGURE OUT WHY I CAN'T READ, BUT YOU NEVER HAVE! SHE CARRIES ME AROUND, BUT YOU NEVER HAVE! AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, YOU'VE NEVER BEEN NICE TO ME!" Tears race each other down Payton's small, round face. I realize I'm crying, too, when they start to hit my lips. I keep my mouth closed as the tears keep going for both of us. Bronwen stares at Payton, all trace of emotion gone from her body and face. Payton keeps going, though, not realizing her sister is silent."WANDA HAS ONLY BEEN NICE TO ME, UNLIKE YOU! YOU'RE NOT MY SISTER AND YOU NEVER HAVE BEEN!" Payton stomps over to her bed, taking her pillow and blanket, a few dolls and stuffed animals, and stomps out of the room. Bronwen is still staring at the empty space where her sister had been moments before."WANDA, COME ON!" Payton yells from down the hall. I walk away closing the door gently behind me. I get a glimpse Bronwen pulling something out of her drawer right before the door closes. I don't open it again, but I start to worry. I jog down towards Payton.

"Payton, that was harsh. She _is _your sister, maybe not the best, but your sister all the same. You should apologize," She shakes her head as she wipes her excess tears on her blanket.

"No, she needed to have her eyes opened. Yeah, it was a little mean, but that's how Bronwen needs to be told things, very rudely," She shakes her head again. "I hope that if I'm ever adopted, I don't have to live with her anymore,"

"Payton-"

"No-" she interrupts. I stay silent as she continues. "-I really don't want to live with her. She can go and be found dead in a ditch on the side of a highway somewhere. She'd probably do it to herself, the way she cuts herself," Payton shudders. "I don't know how she can do that to herself. I don't like to get hurt. I don't see how that's fun," She shakes her head again and kicks on a door three down from mine. A boy with bright red hair like Ireland opens it and looks down at Payton in confusion. Payton shoves him out of the way and I walk in behind her, apologizing to him about her forcefulness. "See? Right there. You don't apologize for being my sister, you apologize for what I do, but never ignore me. That's why you're more of a sister to me than Bronwen was,"

"Whoa, hold on. What do you mean by 'was', Payton? What happened to Bronwen?" I realize this must be Dublin. I look at him again and see the resemblance to Ireland. Their eye color and shape, the uncontrollable red curls, what seems to be a permanent grin on their faces. I can see the faint hint of the grin that could appear at any given moment. I look around the room. It has three dressers and four beds. There must be more than the two of them.

"She's been a bitch to me,"

"Payton! Don't say stuff like that!" She swats her hand at me.

"Well, did anyone expect me not to pick up on her language? No, I know for a fact everyone's been waiting for me to talk like her forever," She smoothes the wrinkles out of her blanket on the third bed. "Oh, do you mind if I use Declan's old bed?" Payton asks quietly. I see a faint hint of past pain flicker across his face, but he replaces it with a grin.

"Sure thing!" Dublin agrees happily, but I can still see and hear the pain in his voice and on his face, even though he's fairly good at hiding it. Payton hugs him, but walks back over to the bed, continuing to smooth out the wrinkles. I walk over to Payton during the awkward silence that falls over us. Dublin mentions he's going to go get something to eat and walks out of the room fairly quickly. I look over at Payton as she stares at the blanket, pretending to be fascinated by it.

"Payton, who's Declan?" Payton wipes her eyes of excess tears, butr doesn't look at me.

"Declan is Ireland and Dublin's younger brother. He ran away two years ago. They refused to take his bed out of the room. Lara just let them keep it, but when we need more beds, they have to give it to Lara. The fourth bed is Seraphina's bed. She's 10, but almost exactly like Ireland. She tends to hide, though. She's pretty shy. That's probably why you haven't seen her. I actually haven't seen her in three days," Payton shrugs. "We'll find her eventually, though. It's not that we're not worried, it's just that she does this so often, it's not that big deal," She looks up at me. I wrap my arm around her shoulder and gasp. "What is it?"

"Ian was supposed to come over here to see me!" I stand up and we run out the door, running up the stairs, through the hallway, and to the main room. I stop at the top when I look around, searching for Ian. I look around 6 or 7 times, but Payton puts her hand on my arm.

"He's not here," I hear her say. That's all that runs through my mind. _He's not here. He's not here. He's not here._

_He's not here._


	11. Chapter 11

**I have recently found out that doing role play with your friend online is pretty great. It's also about The Host. Sadly, you guys can't check it out because we're doing it on a private chat, but if we like it, we might put it on here. Some big news for me as a writer: So, a few months ago, I entered a writing "competition", so to speak. I had forgotten about it until about two days ago. I found out I won 2****ND**** PLACE! I won 4,000 dollars! It was amazing! Here's the next chapter! Sorry if it's a little short, by the way, but I wanted to update.**

**Ian POV**

"Damn it, Kyle! You took another wrong turn! It's on Main Street! Did you hear me?! MAIN! STREET!" I scream in his ear. He lets one hand go off the steering wheel to punch me.

"I heard you, jackass! Relax! We have to get through traffic,"

"If we're any later, Wanda will start to worry!" He rolls his eyes, but wisely decides to shut up. Good. We turn onto Oakwood Avenue and make a left, turn down a few more streets and eventually make it on Main Street, pulling into the orphanage parking lot. I jump out before the car had even stopped, running across the parking lot laughing as Kyle cusses me out for being stupid. It's not being stupid if it's for a good cause.

And Wanda's the best cause I've ever met.

**Wanda POV (If you want to listen to a song for this part, I recommend "We Are Broken" by Paramore)**

Hide behind the wall right beside the stairs. I'm too heartbroken to move from where I fell. I don't even remember falling to the ground. Payton's sitting beside me behind the wall, both of us silent. I barely distinguish her presence beside me. I stare at the wall blankly, all emotion drained out of me. No thoughts run through my mind. It's like my heart died again. I remember doing this in my mom's closet after she died. I can see her face as my eyes close, tears falling down the same trails as the ones before them. I vaguely remember History class today when we talked about the Trail of Tears. I wonder if any other girl had her heart broken by a boy and then was chased out of her homeland. Well, this was backwards for me. I was chased away from my home and then had my heart broken. Same message, though, I suppose.

I hear the main doors open and everything goes silent. The doors slam shut, but no one says anything. I hear careful footsteps make their way up the stairs. I keep staring at the wall in front of me. I hear a sigh and then Ian's sitting across from me against the wall I've been staring at. He stares back at me, sadness etched all across his face. He smiles a little at me, but it quickly disappears. I blankly stare. Payton sighs beside me and stands up, facing Ian.

"Ok, so you didn't come on time and you've totally freaked her out. She must have thought the worst thing when you didn't show up, Ian. Shame on you," Payton says as she points at him. That makes me laugh a little and Ian smiles at her, peaking at me from the corner of his eye.

"I'm so sorry, Payton. I should have screamed at Kyle much more, even though I screamed at him until I got here, that just wasn't enough, was it?" Payton shakes her head and turns around to face me. I smile at her.

"Well? You should forgive him, Wanda," I smile bigger.

"I forgave him when he sat across from me. I just didn't know what to say," Payton smiles and sits down beside me again. I smile at Ian and he stands up, giving me his hand. I take it and he pulls me up. He holds my hand and starts to spin me. I giggle and he pulls me into his side, his arm draped around my waist. Payton stands back up and I take her hand.

"Let's go to Bronwen's room to get the rest of my stuff out," I nod and squeeze her hand. Ian doesn't say anything, but no doubt he'll ask me what happened when we're alone. We walk down the hall and Payton sticks her head inside the door. She immediately walks in, so we follow her to help her move her stuff. We walk into the room to see Payton taking her dolls out of her drawer. She turns around and hands them to Ian. She stuffs her clothes inside a duffel bag and hands that to me. She picks up her three stuffed animals and nods to us. We walk outside and start down the hall, trying to go quickly and hope that Bronwen doesn't see us.

We get into Payton's new room after standing there trying for about 15 minutes, trying hard not to drop anything. We get inside and toss everything on her new bed. I pick up her three Barbie dolls and hold them in the light, croutching down to see them better. The first one had very pale skin and jet black hair like Bronwen, but her hair was longer and she didn't have bangs. Her dress was a deep violet color and ended at her knees and heels the same color. Her long curls were braided into a bun at the base of her neck.

The middle doll had long, chestnut uncontrollable curls going everywhere, like Payton, a bright red headband keeping them down a little. She had a white sundress on with flowers covering it and a grey sweater over it. Her heels were red, matching her headband. The third doll had long hair, too, but her hair was wavy and orange. She had a pale skin like the first doll did and had freckles scattered across her face. She had on a knee length pale blue dress along with some heels the same color. There were a few bracelets on her wrist. One said Bronwen and the other said Payton. I look up at Payton, who has her back to me as she positions her stuffed animals on her bed. She looks up at me and her eyes get wide when she sees I'm holding the Barbie dolls. She walks over to me and puts her hands on them. She turns the first two over and I see names written on them like the bracelets. The one with curls said Payton and the one with black hair said Bronwen. I look at Payton and she smiles at me.

"That one's Momma. She had the prettiest hair I thought I'd ever seen. But then, I saw Ireland, Dublin, Declan, and Seraphina's hair. When Declan left, I was sad, but he usually kept to himself. Once he ran, Sera left for two weeks. After that, she just walked into the kitchen, got a few rolls, and left again. She stayed for a few weeks, but she left repeatedly. She left again about three days ago. So now I can only see two gingers' hair. And that's only when I manage to see them," I hand her the dolls and she sits them on her bed amidst all the stuffed animals. Payton takes my hand again and looks up at me. "Are you guys hungry? Because I'm hungry," I look over at the clock and realize we're 15 minutes late to dinner. I pick her up.

"Yeah, we should probably eat again. Ian, are you hungry?"

"When am I _not_ hungry?" I laugh a little and take his hand in my free one.

~Line Break~

We walk into the "cafeteria", so to speak, and each get a tray. I've got Payton on my hip still so I push both our trays and get what we both want. Ian's behind us, but he's not complaining about how slow we're going. He just stays beside me. We eventually make it through the line and sit beside Katlynd, Ireland, Saskia, and everyone else.

"Hello!" One of the triplets says.

"Who are you?" A second one asks.

"Are you new here?" The last one asks. Ian looks at me and I slightly nod, showing it's fine and I don't really care.

"Hey. I'm Ian and, no, I'm not new here. I'm just Wanda's boyfriend," I blush and there's a collection of 'aw's from the girls. Legend stares at his food for a second, but then looks up, a cocky grin on his face. He sticks his hand out to Ian.

"Hey. My name's Legend. If you're wondering how I got that, it's because I'm so legendary," Ian raises and eyebrow. I fight the grin.

"Oh, what are you legendary at? Plucking your eyebrows? Shaving your legs? Oh, what about only getting a few gallons of ketchup on your forehead?" The grin takes over.

"Ian, be nice," He roll his eyes. I squeeze his hand underneath the table. He lets go of my hand and wraps his arm around my shoulders. I smile, blushing. The girls 'aw' again, but Legend just glares at Ian.

"Hey, man. Don't you think you're a little old for her?" Ian grins.

"I'm her age, 13. See this?" He lifts his other arm and nods to his muscle. "That's what men have," People laugh and I grin, but give him a look. He shrugs and stares lovingly at me. I smile at him and his eyes brighten. He leans down and lightly kisses my lips. I hear some more a few more people say 'aw' at us, but I'm not listening anymore. He releases me and we grin like Cheshire cat as we start to eat again. People were talking around us, but we were focused on each other. Once we finished dinner, Ian and I left the cafeteria and walked down the hall. He pulled me down the main stair case and through the front door. We start jogging through the parking lot. We get to the other side, out of breath, and he leans against the STOP sign. I stand in front of him.

"Uh, Ian? I'm not sure that they want us leaving the building without permission," He grins.

"Don't worry, Wanda. I asked Lara before I went to find you. She knows where you are," I smile again and he takes my hand. We swing our arms between us as we walk down the sidewalk.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello again, readers! So, we've arrived at chapter 12. I'm super happy! Thanks for reading this! There's a new POV today so tell me if you like it! Here's the chapter, guys!**

**Wanda POV**

I start to laugh as we walk up to the park. He grins at me. I let his hand go and run towards the swings. When I turn around, he's running towards me. I sit in the swing and he takes my hands, smiling down at me.

"You know, this reminds me of my 7th birthday," He smiles, probably waiting to see what I'll do. I hold the tears back, though. I can cry when I'm alone. I squeeze his hands. He sighs and sits in the swing beside me, still holding one of my hands. I start to kick and feel the wind whip at my face. He chuckles and starts to swing with me. We start to go higher and I start giggling. I look over and he's grinning at me, still holding my hand.

"On three we'll jump off," He says. I nod. "1...2...3!" He yells. We jump off our swings and fly towards the huge leaf pile in front of us.

~Line Break~

**Melanie POV**

I walk into the living room and sit on the couch beside Jamie. I don't know what he's watching, but it's pretty funny. He's laughing like crazy at it. I smile at him. Laughter shakes his small frame as he leans onto me.

"That was super funny! Wasn't it, Mel?!" He asks, still laughing. I chuckle.

"Yeah, it was pretty funny, Jamie," I start to laugh at him a little. I don't even know what was so funny in the first place. I hear my phone buzz so I get up and walk to it. I start to hunt it down since I don't remember where it is. I find it in the kitchen. When I look at it, I see Jared called. I immediately call back.

"Hey, Mel. What's up?" My heart flutters with the sound of his voice on the other end of the phone. I smile to think about him, hear his voice.

"Not much. Jamie was laughing so hard. It was so cute," Jared chuckles.

"What's he watching?"

"Uh…." I walk back into the living room where Jamie's laughing hard again. "Jamie, what are you watching?" I bet Jared can hear Jamie laughing because it's echoing through the house.

"Wipeout," He says as he calms down again.

"Wipeout," I tell Jared as I walk back into the kitchen.

"Apparently, it's pretty funny,"

"Yeah. These people go through an obstacle course for a few thousand dollars. But they always fall in pretty strange ways. I don't think that it's _that _funny, but Jamie obviously does," He chuckles again. "I'm lonely. You can come over if you want," I blush, wondering what he'll say. He might take it the wrong way, thinking I want sex. Well, ok, maybe I do, but not now. Not while Jamie's home. Not while we're only 13! Well, Sharon had sex when she was 12…Oh no oh no oh no. I blush harder at where my thoughts have gone.

"That sounds like fun. I need some time to be away from my brothers," I grin. What was I thinking? "I'll be there in a few minutes,"

"Ok, see you!" I hang up and hold back my squeal. I calm myself and walk back into the living room. "Jamie, Jared's coming over. Is that ok?" Jamie looks up, excitement in his big eyes.

"Of course! Jared's _awesome!_" I laugh and walk up to my room. I walk over to my window and sit there, waiting for my prince to come.

**Ian POV**

We land right where we aimed, the big leaf pile in front of the swings. I hear Wanda giggle as I sit up and sort of crawl my way towards her. She smiles up at me. I look up at the stars she's always loved so much and down at her again. She's staring up at them in awe. I lay back, my arms under my head. She does the same, except she rests her head on my chest. I'm comfortable here with her. I'm always comfortable with her near me. She sighs contently, but I hear the sadness in that one sigh. I immediately start to worry. What's wrong? Did I do something?

"You ok?" I ask. She nods, but she's not answering. I sit up with her and turn towards her. "What's wrong, Wanda?" She stares at the leaves around us.

"I don't want to leave this place, Ian. I don't want to leave you," I stare at her in silence.

"They're sending you away?" My voice is cold as I try to keep my anger down. She looks up at me and takes my hands. I let her, it might be the last time she can.

"No. They haven't found a family for me yet. But I'm scared they will and I'll have to leave," I squeeze her hands and all my anger drains out of me. I pull her into my arms.

"Wanda, I won't let them send you away. You're safe here. You need to stay here with us, with me," I blush a little and I feel her face warm up, too. She smiles.

"I will never leave you freely, Ian. Never," She looks up at me. I lean down and kiss her, cupping her cheek. I hear thunder, but neither of us make a move to leave yet. I deepen the kiss as a few raindrops land on us. We keep kissing, though, not letting a little rain dampen our moment together. The rain starts to fall harder as we start to lie down on the now damp leaves.

**Payton POV**

I walk into Bronwen's room. She's sitting in a chair, staring at me. I stand there, glaring back. Her hands are palm down in her lap as she stares blankly back at me.

"What do you want," I ask coldly. She turns her hands over and I see old wounds open on her palms and wrists. Blood stains her jeans and I gasp. "Bronwen, I thought you stopped cutting!" I rush over to the drawer and pull out the wraps. I get over to her and reach for her hands. She pulls away and turns around. I kick her chair. It hurt, but I don't care. I can let the tears fall for that and not for Bronwen. She doesn't move.

"Go away, Payton," Bronwen says. She doesn't turn around. I stand my ground, though.

"Bronwen, if you don't let me fix your hands, I'll get Lara,"

"You wouldn't really get Lara. You know she'd send me away somewhere. And I know, deep down, you don't want that," I stare at her back. I shake my head, a few curls hanging down in my eyes.

"I'm getting Lara," As I run out of the room, I swear I hear her laugh.

It sounded just like _her_.

**Wanda POV**

Once the rain pours harder, Ian walks with me down the sidewalk back towards the orphanage. I pull him in with me. I don't want him to get sick. I start to wonder where the showers would be when I hear running. I turn to see a very pale Payton running towards me. I stop her and bend down to her height.

"Payton, honey, what's wrong?" She's panting, like she's been running for a while.

"Bronwen. She's started cutting again. I need to find Lara," She starts whimpering and runs past us, faster than I could have thought. I look over at Ian and run after her. I hear him call after me, but I don't listen. I hear him running after us as I catch up to Payton. I see her run into this office-like room. It has dozens of books in it and a long desk in the middle of the room. Lara sits behind it, hunched over a book and talking on the phone.

"Yes, here's on. Her name is Jessie. She's 16 years old…..Yes….Yes, ma'am. She's an only child so you don't have to worry about siblings…You can come tomorrow…..Perfect! Ok, goodbye, ma'am," Lara says as she hangs up the phone. She looks at Payton first. "What's wrong, Payton, dear?"

"Bronwen's cutting herself again,"

"Again?" Lara asks, raising an eyebrow. Payton blushes, turning her face to its natural peach color.

"I never told anyone because I was scared that you would send her away," Lara nods as if expecting this answer.

"That explains her scars. Is it her hands, wrists?"

"Both," Lara stands up and sees me behind her and Ian behind me.

"Now why are you two soaked?" I blush.

"Well, I went to the park with Ian and it started to rain really hard before we could make it back," Lara nods, as if she expected that answer, too. She walks past us and Payton shows her the way. I look at Ian, who's looking at me. We shrug and follow them. We go up the stairs and get to Bronwen's room. She's standing in front of the window and turns to face us. When she turns, her eyes narrow in on me and then she focuses on Payton and Lara.

"Bronwen, get over here. Payton, hand me the bandages," Bronwen doesn't move, but Payton quickly gets the bandages and hands them to Lara. Lara narrows her eyes at Bronwen. "Bronwen-" Lara says, her voice hard with authority. "-get over here now," Bronwen smiles at her, but it's a fake smile. I can see the envy and hatred behind it, her malice thickening the air around us.

"Make me," Bronwen demands.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey, everyone! So, we're at chapter 13 now. Do you guys still like this story? Please tell me if you like it. I really want to know if anyone is still reading. By the way, I've decided to make Payton 5 or 6 years old instead of about three. She's small for her age, though. Ok, here it is!**

**Payton POV**

I stand behind Lara as she stares at Bronwen. Bronwen glares at Wanda and stares daggers at me. I start to shake and I look over at Wanda. She barely shakes her head. She wants me to stay here. In front of Bronwen. I widen my eyes slightly and she does the same, shaking her head slightly again. I feel my eyes start to burn, but keep my tears inside. Bronwen's face turns darker as she watches me. I fight my tears and I know that she can see me fighting them. She just stares at me. That's what scaring me the most. Lara keeps her arms in front of me as she tries to get Bronwen to cooperate. I'm not really listening until I hear Wanda.

"Please, Bronwen. I know what Payton said. But you have to know that she loves you. Can't you see that?" Bronwen blankly stares above my head. "Please, Bronwen. Let Lara fix your wounds,"

"You mean my wrists and hands? They'll be fine," Bronwen answers coldly. "If you mean the wounds on my heart, they will never heal. No matter who comes in and tries to fix them," Bronwen reaches her hands out towards Lara, though. I feel a lone tear roll down my cheek. I can't believe that she actually listened. No matter what she says, she wants to be healed. After Lara finishes wrapping Bronwen's hands, I run to her, wrapping my arms around my sister's waist and start to cry silently.

"I'm sorry, Bronwen," I whisper quietly. She wraps her arms around me immediately, rubbing her hands up and down my back. I feel Lara pat my head as she leaves the room. She whispers to Wanda and Ian and I hear them leave, too. "You want to help me move back in here?" I feel something fall on my head and look up to see Bronwen, _my _Bronwen, with tears streaking her face, too. Her mascara and eye liner are running down with the tears. I hug her tighter, making the tears fall faster. I let her go and take her hand, pulling her towards the door.

**Ian POV**

We walk down the hallway, make a left turn, and walk into this gym thing. As we walk across, we see people playing basketball. They wave at us. Wanda grins and waves back. I smile a little and wave some. When we get to the other side of the gym, we get into this huge room filled with kids with lab coats on. One girl with long brown hair looks up and smiles. She reaches beside her and puts on these nerd-like glasses, pushing them up her nose when they slide down. She basically bounces to us and laughs a little as she sticks her hand out to me.

"Hi! I'm Jasmine. I can see you need to get warmed up, right?" I nod as Wanda answers her.

"Yeah. It started to rain on us," Jasmine laughs again.

"I can see that. Right this way. We'll get you dry," we start walking through this lab thing, walking around robots and computers, until we make it to this huge curtain. Jasmine pushes it aside and we walk into the room. It looks like the school locker room shower area, but without the actual shower part. There are mats on the ground under what seems to be a suction chamber to me. Wanda stands on one so I stand on the one beside her. Jasmine hands me this clip thing.

"Put this on your right index finger, please," I do what she says and she walks over to the far wall. I look over at Wanda, whose eyes are closed.

"Ian, you have to close your eyes for this part,"

"What am I doing, anyways?"

"I'll tell you in a minute. Let's get dry first. Now, close your eyes," I sigh and listen to her, closing my eyes. What feels like fire burns my veins as it flows throughout my body. I keep my mouth closed, though, along with my eyes. It doesn't hurt, just feels like hot water without burning. It's gone in seconds. I hear movement beside me where Wanda is.

"You can open your eyes now, Ian," She says. I open my eyes and everything seems clearer.

"Whoa," I grip at the air and I feel Wanda grip my arm and pull me off the pad thing I was on. "Everything seems in perspective now. What happened?" Jasmine pops up from nowhere and smiles at me. I just stare at her, waiting for an answer.

"We did an enhancement to your body's deficiencies. What we did was use natural electricity to shock your body's 'circuits', so to speak. Those are like your 'plug-ins' that allow you to see, hear, walk, do anything inside your body. We found that you were near-sided in your sight so we fixed the shape of your eye, using the electricity to light your body so we could change it through your skin. Also, we dried off your clothes, skin, and hair with the electricity,"

"How did you do that in a few seconds?" Jasmine laughed.

"It took 20 minutes to do it to both of you. With your eyes closed and your body in what is like a nap, time seems to slow down," I stare at her, open mouthed.

"That's awesome. So, is everything in my body fixed?"

"Just your hearing, sight, smell, and balance. We have only figured out to fix that without surgery. If you're wondering if we'll try to increase intelligence, we will not. It ended badly when technology started up more and it will end badly now. It will never work,"

"I wasn't going to ask about increasing intelligence,"

"Well, you've got an answer to an unasked question. I'll see you guys later," And with that, Jasmine basically bounces back over to the chair that she was sitting in when we walked in.

~Line Break~

**Melanie POV**

I hear the doorbell ring and I race to the door. I open it to Jared, who grins as he walks in, waving at his brother as he honks at us. I roll my eyes and we walk into the living room, where Jamie is dying with laughter. He's hanging upside down, tears falling into his hairline. This makes Jared laugh, which makes me laugh. So pretty soon, we're all laughing pretty hard. I hear my phone again and groan as I try to hunt it down. I find it in the kitchen again and see Wanda's calling me.

"Hello?" I ask, frustration coating my voice.

"Hey, Mel!" Wanda says, oblivious to my agitation. "Ian wanted to tell you about my 'awesome house,' but knew you wouldn't answer if he called," I hear some muffled noise that sounds like wind and then I hear Ian.

"Ok, so brace yourself,"

"Hold on a sec. JAMIE! TURN THE VOLUME OFF THE TV!" Jamie mutes it and I put Ian on speaker phone and we sit in a circle around the phone. "Ok, we're ready,"

"Ok, so when you walk in, there's the HUGE spiral staircase in the main room!"

"Ok, I've already stopped believing it," Jared says.

"I swear it's true!"

"That's the smallest d-" I give Jared a look and he clears his throat. "-building that I've ever seen! No way it's got a spiral staircase, Ian!"

"True shit!" I hear something it the background and Ian laughs.

"Ian, Jamie's probably there!" I hear Wanda whisper. Ian just laughs.

"But, after you go up the stairs, to your left are, like, 50or something doors and then a back staircase. If you go down there, you've got about 30 more doors to get to Wanda's room. If you go right at the first staircase, you've got more doors and the cafeteria, which is bigger than our school one,"

"No!" Jared stubbornly objects.

"That sounds AWESOME!" Jamie says as he starts to get excited. "What else is there?" Ian and Wanda laugh.

"Somewhere in there is a gym about the size of the schools and if you go where the locker room should be, you've got these genius kids experimenting,"

"What do they do?" Jamie asks. I can tell he's excited. Jared just shakes his head as he stares at the phone.

"They did something to my vision or…what was it they did, Wanda?"

"They fixed our vision, hearing, smell, and balance. And also dried us off. Only using electricity through our bodies," I whistle.

"Why don't we have this stuff in our houses?" Wanda laughs.

"They haven't patented anything they've built yet. They're scared that the time they start to show it all off, nothing will work correctly,"

"There were a few robots back there, too,"

"Mel! Can we PLEASE go there?! I REALLY want to visit Wanda!" Ian and Wanda laugh.

"I would love it if you came, Jamie. But you should probably ask your Mom and Dad first," Jamie's excitement deflates.

"They won't let us go," Jamie says, resting his head on his fist.

"If I ask them, they would probably let us," Jamie perks up when I say that. They probably won't let us go if I ask. If Wanda does, though….they might just let us go see it.

"Ok, Wanda, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure thing!"I turn off the speaker phone and walk into my room, closing the door.

"Ok, so, I know that my parents wouldn't let us go if I ask, let alone Jamie,"

"I know that. That's why you want me to ask. You know they'll listen to me,"

"Exactly. Thanks, girl,"

"Of course! Do you want me to call your Mom or Dad now or later,"

"Now and call my Mom. She'll listen and then criticize,"

"I know. Ok, I'll call her right now,"

"Ok, bye!"

"Bye," We hang up and I walk back downstairs, tossing my phone on the couch between Jamie and Jared, who had unmated the TV and were laughing at the people as they fall off of stuff. I sit between them and laugh with them.


End file.
